A GERMAN HERO 



COLONIAL TIMES OF PENXSYLVANL\ ; 



LIFEandTIMBSofHENRY ANTES, 



REV. EDWIN MCMINN. 




.\;00;u:si(/\VN, l.URLINXTON CO.,N. J. 

1886. 



^/.^ 



^ 



s 



En'ered acco-d'i g to Act cf Congress 

Tu the officj of t!c U. i^. Librarian, in Washingtjii in t!ie year lSSt>, 

by Edwin McMinn. 



Prinierl and Stercolyped 
by Williani J l..'v 11. Mrorcsta« n, X j. 



To my mother, the daitglitcr of Amelia Antes, 
this life of her ancestor is affectio7iately dedicated 
with the spirit of gratitude that in the succeeding 
generations a love for the zuork of the Lord Jesits 
■Christ and .zeal for christian union upon the bases of 
God's word has been elective in continui?ig in active 
service the spirit and love of their ancestor. 



PREFACE. 



We naturally feci proud of the elegance, wealth, 
ivrA commercial importance of our beautiful Phila- 
delphia, and take sweet delight in the fertility and 
beauty of the surrounding country. We see it in 
its strength and development, and to man)- it seems 
that it never could have been othervvise. 

But Clio comes to v/arn us Ironi such a con- 
clusion, and points to us the weather stained, mouldy 
and faded fragments of the days gone by, and out 
of these we learn what perils, trials and sufferings, 
what povert)" and need, beset our forefathers as they 
laid the foundations of the prosperity which we now 
enjoy. 

In this volume we may see what life v/as in Phil- 
adelphia and the surrounding country a hundred 
and fifty years ago. 

To the writer, this period is exceedingly attrac- 
tive, the more so because his ancestor, Henry Antes, 
was one of the leading spirits of that time, and in 
the story of his life the spirit of his time can be 
plainly discerned. 

In the preparation of this historical information, 
I am indebted to Mr. Henry S. Dottercr, more 



5 

than to all others, for having thoroughly searched 
the records and gleaned the facts as to the work of 
Henry Antes, and only his cordial encouragement, 
and generosity in placing at my disposal his infor- 
mation, could have induced me to persevere in the 
preparation of this volume. 

Mr. John W. Jordan, also kindly looked over the 
MSS. and gave me correct information on several 
points of doubt. 

My thanks are also due to the distinguished 
scholars, Prof Oscar Seidensticker and S. W, Pen- 
nypacker, for information which they have gleaned 
from ancient records. At this present day no one 
can write the early history of our State and par- 
ticularly of the German settlers without being greatly 
indebted to them for the thoroughness and careful- 
ness of their investigations. 

I am also greatly indebted to Major L. H. 
Evarts for so kindly permitting me to use as 
fully as I might desire for my purpose the His- 
tory of Philadelphia, and the History of Mont- 
gomery County, with illustrations, as published by 
him. 

To my uncle, George W. Youngman, I am 
Indebted for first of all calling my attention to 
the historical importance of Henry Antes, and to 
financial assistance in publishing this volume. 



To my brother, H. S. McMinn, I am indebted for 
a list of the descendants, which after years of search- 
ing he had succeeded in properly classifying. 

And to the many subscribers who have shown 
their interest in such a work by .encouraging its 
publication I now return my sincere thanks, and 
hope that they will not be disappointed in the vol- 
ume now placed before them. There is a possi- 
bility that some future day we may undertake a 
similar work on the life of Henry Antes' thrv.e dis- 
tinguished sons. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Chapter i. The Religious Wars in the Palatinate, and the fa!' 

of the house of Von Blume, 1 1 

" 2. The founding of Pennsylvania by William Penn, 
and his invitation to the Germans. Penn's arrival on 
the ship Welcome, with his company of Quaker set- 
tlers; wintering in the Province, 19 

" 3. The Germans. The Mennonites purchase 25,000 acres 
of land. Coming of F icis Daniel Pastorius; his 
.•icholarship. Emigrants ..om Crefeld. Founding of 
Germantown. Their simplicity, style of living; weavers 
and mill builders. Protest against slavery. Town 
laws. William Dewees. Attempt to restrict German 
emigration. Printing the Bible, 30 

" <. The Indians. — Their numbers, appearance, language, 
customs, marriage, houses, liberality, love of strong 
drink, religion, government, bargaining, tools, tattooing, 
dress, money, wampum, value cf a piece of land, In- 
dian tracks, wigwams, 4 1 

' 5. Emigration and Settlement in the Wilderness. 
The Frankfort Company's tract. Coming of Emigrants 
without records of their names and dates. Henry Antes. 
Perils of the voyage. The land they left contrasted 
with the wilderness. The meadows. William Dewees' 
jwper mill on the Wissahickon. Henry Antes' abilities. 
Settlers' houses. Furniture. Stalwart manhood and 
social songs in the fore'st, 55 

" 6. The Hermits in the Wilderness. Dr. Witt. Henry 
Antes' courtship. Boehm assumes ministerial offices. 
The marriage festivities of Henry Antes, 65 

7 



Cl:apter 7. Scenes on the Wissahickon. The Crefeld mill. 
Indian burden bearers. The Tunkers from the wilder- 
ness. The classes of settlers, 75 
[ " S. Philadelphia in 1730. Danger from Indians. Act of 
Naturalization. Franklin's Gazette. Philadelphia 
Library established. The building of the State House. 
I-oiidon coffo" House. The Quakers. George Wash- 
ington horn The frontier physician, S3 
" 9. Religious Colonists. The UnitasFratrum. The history 
and doctrines. The vSchwenkfelders. Moravian set- 
tlers in Georgia. Cottage prayer meetings. Antes 
builds his house and the first grist mill is erected in the 
wilderness, 95 
" 10. Contemporary Events. The small pox plague. Great 
ice flood. \'isit by John Penn. The Cunestoga hermit. 
Indian council. Tr< lible on the border, Tand claims, 104 
" II. Spangenberg and Whitefield. Birth of John Henry 
Antes. The Associated Brethren of Skippack. Death 
in the household. C!hristian Union. Birth of John 
Antes, .-\nure\v Eschenback. Whitcficld's surprisinrj 
eloquence. Nazareth starti d, 109 
^' \2. The Founding of Bethlehem. Colonial quarrels and 
distress. War threatened. Restrictions on commerce. 
The plague in the city. The German? flattered. The 
Lazaretto. Riots at elections. Antes' religious work 
->;' in the country. Lutheran view of the state of religion. 
Reformed view. Strong denominationalism. Bethle- 
hem selected, 122 
'•' 13. Unity Conferences. Count Zinzendorf. The call for 
the conferences. The work of the conference. Antes' 
letter to the people of Pennsylvania. Bochm's letter 
against Antes, 1 34. 
J.;. Indian Tribes on the Border. Antes' mission. The 
council of the Inclians and the Governor's treatment of 
them. The Six Nations condemning the Delawares. 
Arrival of a colony of Moravians. Busy days. New 
acts for naturalization. ZinzendorPs return to Europe. 
Departure of Antes' daughter. Printing the German 
Eiblc, itit 



Chapter 15. Moravian Schools and Educa*;on. niilnrlelpiiin n 
1744. War between France aovl Great Britain. Frank- 
lin's efforts. Military lottery. Antes gives his home. 

' The colonial Justice. Canoe warfare on the Schuylkir, 1 5^. 

" 16. Antes' Labor for the Moravians. Whitefield's visit 
with Antes. The sore throat epidemic. Privateersmen 
on the seas. Antes defends the Moravians at NevA"- 
town. Builds mill at Gnadenthal. The first ferry 
across- the Lehigh. Visit to New York to launch a 
Moravian vessel. Appointed Consenior Civilis. Tlie 
great book published at Ephrata, 172 

" 17. Separation from the Moravians. I'ioneer Perils 
in North Carolina. Antes protests against the white 
surplice. Returns to Frederick. Trip to North Caro- 
lina. Indians, fever, starvation, snow storms, perils. 
Rescuers and success. Antes' last work for the 
Moravians, 180 

" 18. The London School Movement. Tlie Provincial 
Fair. Muhlenberg's methods in training the people. 
This educational movement killed by newspaper in- 
fluence. Antes' last defence of the Germans, sgo 

" 19. Death and Burial of Antes. Eulogies. Poetry of 

J. H. Dubbs. Will. Inventory, ::or 

" 2D. Henry M. Muhlenberg, or tlie experience of this fa- 
mous minister in beginning his ministry in Pennsyl- 
vania, 217 

■•' 21. Gottlieb Mittleberger's Book. A description of a 
visit to Pennsylvania in 1750. Bringing the first organ 
to the Province. Fared well in the Province. New- 
landers or man stealers. Six months on the journey. 
Delays and exposures. Horrors on the ocean. Storm 
at Sea. Burial. Homesickness. Hunger and thirst. 
First sight of land. Sold into service in Philadelphia 
to pay passage money. Clearing new land. Sad case 
of a Wurtemberger. Extent of emigration. Methods 
of the man stealers. Philadelphia in 1754. Religious 
freedom in Pennsylvania. Freedom of trades. Smart- 
ness of the young people. Going to church on horse- 
back. Funerals. State of tlic cauichcj. Pay of tlii 



lO 

clergy. Beverages. No beggars. Rural life. Trees;, 
flowers, etc. Sunsets. Birds, etc. Snakes. Fireflies, 
The Indians. Remarkable discovery. Stolen mar- 
riage. Hospitality. English ladies. Mines, etc. 
Slaves. Earliest times. A bear story. May Fair. 
Old time good will. Music. Ladies' fashions in 1754. 
Gentlemen's apparel. Dwelling iiouses. Change in 
calendar. Highways. Return to Europe, 234-. 

The D.;scendantg of Henry Antes, -S;. 




Chapter I. 

The Religions War in the Palatinate and the fall of the 
House of Von Bliime. 

UT of great tribulations have risen characters 
in which the nobler qualities of mind have 
feY^ become crystalized, so as to exhibit their 
'"tW^^" excellence in clearness and strength. Cen- 
turies of oppression have decided the fate of nations 
and communities. Where the character was weak, 
there was a gradual disappearance, but where the 
character was strong, there was a resistance put 
forth which produced a power of endurance that out 
of temporary defeat arose permanently triumphant. 

Thus the doctrine of the survival of the fittest 
finds illustration. 

In Germany this principle held good, and the 
Reformation, with the religious wars that followed, 
though devastating the land, have moulded a people 
who to-day are unsurpassed for bravery, philosophy, 
and religious devotion. While persecution has 
driven out of that land thousands who loved freedom 
more than life, in othei* lands they have founded 
families in which the succeeding generations have 
displayed the qualities which so strongly marked 
their ancestors, qualities which enable the descen- 



12 

dants to stand abreast of their times, and secure to 
themselves honors and prosperity. When we look 
back to Germany we see the tremendous throes of 
agony through which nations must pass in their 
development in which all the forces of evil conspire 
to crush out all that is irood. 

Over Germany the power of Rome had extended, 
until the true religion of Christ was held only by 
refugees and mountaineers, or by a few brave souls 
who died for their faith in the cities where their 
devotion awakened a yearning among the silent 
thousands who observed them and believed in them 
as the possessors of the true gospel of the Son of 
God. In Bohemia John Huss fearlessly gave his 
testimony and died a martyr to his faith. A century 
after, Luther, Zwinglius, and Calvin, with their great 
and learned followers broke the shackles which 
bound the people, and Germany was taken out of 
the grasp of Rome, to think and worship as the 
hearts of the people might desire. Again a century 
passed and the contest spread from the university 
to the camp. Politics and religion were united and 
-the most dreadful of warring convulsions shook and 
devastated the land. Out of this protracted season 
of war, through the victory of Gustavus Adolphus 
and the results followinof, came the reo-eneration 
of Germany and a religious liberty which can never 
-acrain be overthrown. 

Germany before tlie thirty )ears' war was vastly 



13 

dlffc^rcnt from the Germany which followed it, as we 
will see in a resume of the events of that period. 

Among the nobility of Germany previous to 
that awful struggle was the baronial house of Von 
Blume, whose history is the same as that of hun- 
dreds of the barons involved in the storms which 
swept their baronies with devastation, their castles 
with the sword, and their families with outlawry 
:ind death, but where the personal history of a fallen 
!-.vUise has perished, we can reconstruct it in the 
general history of their times. To understand 
therefore the fall of the house of Von Blume we 
must consider, the history of that period, for this 
much is known, and it casts a beam of light athwart 
the history, revealing to us of the general story that 
which most particularlyaffects this individual family. 

Henry, Baron Von Blume, at an early age entered 
the monastic life, and became an Ecclesiastic, and 
tlius occupied a double relationship toward the 
sLate and toward Rome. 

He became attached to his cousin, a Baroness, 
who at the time was a superior in a convent at 
Mayence. They became Protestants, they were 
man ied, they were victims in the awful convulsions 
of 1 620, and amongst the proscribed hid themselves, 
changed their name from the German to the corres- 
} oiiding Greek, and a century later Henry Antes, 
the subject of our story, their descendant, passed 
out of Germany over the ocean to the Province of 



Pennsylvania, to enjoy tlie faith for which his noble 
ancestor had given up nobility, castle, and fortune. 
To comprehend the necessity for this complete 
destruction of a baronial estate we refer to the 
history of that terrible epoch. In 1530 the Protes- 
tant princes of Germany, with the Saxon Elector 
at their head, had met at Smalcalde in upper Saxony, 
and formed a league for the defence of their liberties. 
For fourteen years following, there was very little 
interference with the religious liberties of the Ger- 
mans, but in 1545 the Emperor Charles V. prepared 
to restore Catholicism in Germany by force of arms. 
The consequence was a war for seven years in south- 
western Germany and in Saxony. 

The result of this v.ar was that the Protestants 
should enjoy the free exercise of their religion, 
and the Catholics should be unmolested, and that 
Protestants as well as Catholics should be admitted 
to the Imperial Chamber. This treaty Avas called 
the Peace of Religion and was solemnly confirmed 
at Augsberg in 1555. 

The next war was for the succession of Cleves, 
for which numerous claimants arose. The question 
of this succession derived its chief importance 
from the circumstance that, though Protestantism 
had spread around them, the Dukes of Cleve had 
always remained attached to the orthodox church, 
thus constituting one of the few large Catholic 
powers among the temporal princes of Germany. 



15 

In the contest for the succession WolforanQf, in order 
to maintain himself and to gain possession, of the 
entire Cleve inheritance soHcIted the Emperor to 
call the Spaniards into Germany. When this was 
done the Dutch were called in by the other parties 
10 the claim, until a German territory, disputed by 
German princes, was occupied by the Spaniards for 
one party, and by the Dutch for the other. 

This dispute continued from 1609 to 1627. The 
next move in the war was by the Bohemians re- 
nouncing their allegiance to Ferdinand II., and con- 
ferring the crown of Bohemia on Frederick V., 
elector j;:i]atine, the leading Protestant prince in 
Germany. This war lasted nearly six years, from 
i6i<S to 1623 in western Germany, and is the war 
in which the house of Von Blume went down. 

At this time there were three parties in Germany, 
die Catholics, the Lutherans, and the Calvinists. 
each party hating the other with bitter hatred, and 
ready to take up arms against each other on the 
most trifling pretexts. 

And this spirit was continued until the whole o^ 
Germany was in a blaze, and death and desolation 
prevailed everywhere. 

The Protestant union was opposed by the Catho- 
lic league, each party trying to outdo the other in 
avariciousness and ferocity, and whichever party 
held the power, the effect on the country was the 
same. Frederick, the Protestant leader, was very 



i6 

Aveak, and altogether incapable of managing the in 
terests in his hands, while Ferdinand II., the Emper- 
or, was skillful and able, and had sworn the destruc- 
tion of Protestantism. Maximilian, the King o; 
Bavaria, was also an ardent Catholic and an able 
general, and he too was determined on the destruc- 
tion of the Protestants, and In this state of affairs 
the Lutherans withheld their assistance from the 
Calvinists, who thus left alone could not save tlv.m- 
selves, but were defeated on every hand. Befor.* 
the walls of Prague Frederick's army was cut in 
pieces and he became a fugitive, and then followed 
the Imperial edict that placed his possessions under 
a ban, and the Palatinate was given to the King of 
Bavaria. Thus Catholicism triumphed. While the 
Imperial and Bavarian allies were overrunning Bo- 
hemia, the Spanish general Spinola led his army 
of Spaniards out of the Netherlands into the Lower 
Palatinate where they captured place after place, 
and with the keenest scent for heresy hunted out 
those who were of the Calvinistic faith. It is at once 
evident that in such a search, the Baron Von Blume, 
a noble and ecclesiastic who had renounced Catho- 
licism for Calvinism, would not have one stone lelt 
upon another of his castle, but would become the 
victim of their deepest vengeance, and this feeling 
would be intensified because, when the Protestants 
had the power, they vigorously drove out of chcir 



17 

possessions the Catholic ecclesiastics and appropri- 
ated their benefices. 

One of the followers of Frederick V, was Count 
Mansfield, a soldier of fortune. After the defeat of 
his Prince, he eluded the victorious armies of his foes 
and came into the Lower Palatinate with his army 
of twenty thousand men. He had no way of paying 
his soldiers except by what they could capture from 
their foes, and yet he held togetlier this large force, 
which swarmed upon whatever rich possessions v.ere 
before them. He was joined by another soldier of 
iortune, Duke Christian of Brunswick, w^ith a sin^ilar 
army of banditti, and these were opposed b)- the 
Bavarian general Lilly, with an army which they 
could not successfully resist, and when hard pressed, 
tliey fled across the border and preyed upon the 
territories of France. The Vv^ar was increased at 
this time by the revolt of the Huguenots in France, 
the Puritans were being persecuted in England, and 
all Europe was involved in strife. The ambition of 
the House of Hapsburg in Austria led them to aspire 
to universal control, and Richelieu in France was 
preparing to lay the foundations for his greatness, 
while GustavusAdolphus was conquering in Poland, 
and making ready for the crowning w^^jrk of his life, 
to lead and save the Protestant cause in Germany, 
yes, in Europe. During these years of war, the 
cruelties inflicted upon the defenseless people is inde- 



V6 

scribable. The population of Germany diminisliecl 
in these thirty years from twenty to fifty per cent- 
The population of Augsburg was reduced from 
80,000 to 18,000, of Wurtemburg from 400,000 to 
48,000 ; cities, villages, castles and houses innumer- 
able had been burned to the Gfround. The bare sta- 
tistics of the destruction of life and property arc 
appalling. And when at last peace spread her wings 
over the land, by the fortunes of war new ou'ners 
possessed the land, and the former owners, knowing 
better than to trust the mercy or thli pledge of the 
Catholic powers, chose to remain In obscurity, and 
as the way might open before them, seek protection 
and support for themselves, their wives, and their 
little ones. 

It they could not bequeath to their children riches 
and titles of nobility, they could give them oood 
blood, characters that had within them all of the 
elements of greatness and success, for these Catho- 
lic vengeance could not take from them, nor could 
obscurity hide. This was the legacy which Henry 
Antes received, and in turn gave to his children. 



Chapter II. 

TJie founding of Pennsylvania by William Penn, and his 
invitation of the Germans. 



i 



fjHILIP JACOB SPENER, the leader of 
. ^^c the Pietists in Germany became pastor of 
@^'9S& ^^^^ Lutheran Church of Frankford on the 
^g|^v Main in the year 1 666. 

The dreadful effects of the Thirty Years' War, with 
following train of woes, was weighing heavily upon its 
the German church and the thoughts of the people 
were in a transition state, in which the warm life of 
pi-actical religion was endeavoring to drive out and 
supersede the cold dead formalism of the preceding 
periods. Spener was a man splendidly endowed 
with intellectual, oratorical and spiritual faculties — 
just what was needed in this crisis of the history of the 
church — and in becoming the pastor of the church 
in Frankforfe, he at once endeavored to carry out 
the lofty ideas of the purity and usefulness of the 
office he held, aiming at nothing less than a repro- 
duction of the church as portrayed in the epistles 
of Paul. This v/ould necessitate a reformation of 
church life throughout the entir^ country, as his 
course awakened the enmity and opposition of those 
wlio were satisfied v;ith the prevailing tone of 
Ciiurch life. 



20 



He also set up what were called "conventicles," 
or more properly, conferences of christians respect- 
ing matters of religion, in which they engaged in 
conversation on religious topics, instead of on other 
topics, and the nickname of Pietists was given these 
godly men, by those who derided them on account 
of their peculiar views. But this movement became 
a great power in awakening a spirit of evangelism 
throughout the country, and many noble men, 
preachers, professors and those in humble stations in 
life followed the guidance of this sincere exponent 
of divine truth. In the year 1677 William Penn, 
in company with George Fox, Robert Barclay, 
George Keith and others made an extensive prose- 
lyting tour through Germany, and met there Pietists, 
with whom they exchanged opinions on the work 
that Y/as before them. 

The followers of these Quakers were called " A 
new brood of fanatical spirits," but among the Men- 
nonites of Germany they found kindred spirits, and 
in fact agreement in the salient points of Christian 
life and duty. "Both laid the greatest stress on in- 
ward piety, and a godly, humble life, considered all 
strife and warfare as unchristian, scrupulously ab- 
stained from njaking oath, declared against a paid 
ministry, exercised through their meetings a strict 
discipline over their members, favored silent prayer, 
were opposed to infant baptism, and looked upon 



21 

the established churches as unhallowed vessels of 
the divine wrath." 

It was to these people particularly that Penn and 
his companions directed their mission. They found 
severe laws against them on the statute book, and in 
many places they were persecuted by the people. 

For a long time they had been looking toward 
America for a refuge from persecutions, and now 
Penn leads them more thoroughly to consider the 
propriety of crossing the sea and beginning life 
anew, in a land of religious freedom where there 
were no established churches and no foes to perse- 
cute. Penn at this time was thirty-three years of 
age, and captivating in his manner, and his heart 
was thoroughly aroused in behalf of those who for 
conscience sake endured persecution, so he com- 
forted the brethren, told them of America, invited 
them to turn toward that land, and thus sent a thrill 
of hope throughout the homes and in the hearts of 
all the oppressed for religion's sake in the German 
fatherland. 

Let us for a moment look at this remarkable man 
and thus we will the better understand his work. 

William Penn was born in London, October 14, 
1644. His father was a vice-admiral, a politician 
virho with considerable skill preserved the favor of the 
ruling power. He was a man of great ambition and 
had marked out for his son a career of honor and 



usefulness to the state. Lady Penn^ his wife, was as 
quiet and domestic as her husband was gay and 
worldly, and their son WilHam inherited the religious 
traits of the mother's character, which grew with his 
growth and strengthened with his strength. As a 
consequence the boy early manifested the bent of 
his mind to the answer and consternation of the 
father, who turned him out of doors, punished him 
in various ways, surrounded him with contrary com 
pany, and did all he could to turn the boy into his 
own way of thinking, but it was useless, for his son 
was just as obstinate as himself. Penn happened 
to hear Thomas Loe, a Quaker preacher, speak on 
the words "There is a faith which overcometh the 
world, and there is a faith which is overcome by the 
world," and from this time he united himself heartily 
with this persecuted people. 

William Penn was a man of rare power. He 
defied the authorities by his eloquent addresses, his 
fervid books, his court friendships and spotless 
character, and as a champion undertook the defence 
of his chosen associates. " He was an Enelish 
gentleman, fond of dress, comfort, ease, and 
something like luxury, an accomplished courtier, a 
thorough business man, and one of the shrewdest 
students and judges of character." He was thor- 
oughly acquainted \\ith the wa}-s and forms of royal 
courts, and could without the sacrifice of his principles 
make himself agreeable to those who held the sway 



23 

in the land. Much more gifted in graces of intellect 
than his co-religionists he soon became the shaper 
of their ways, and thus led them out of many of their 
extravagances into a very staid and sober habit of 
life. 

But the principles of the sect were very dear to 
him, and in seeking for kindred spirits he became 
acquainted with Spenerand the Pietists of Germany, 
as also the Mennonites, German Quakers, Dunkards 
or German Baptists, and the hosts still within the 
Lutheran and Reformed Churches who prayed for 
the incominof of a better and truer relicfious life. It 
was a time of persecution, and the darkness Vv'as 
increasing, but God did not leave his people without 
a refuge. George Fox had visited America in 1 67 1, 
but even in the New World the face of the people 
was sternly set against the Quakers. At length the 
opportunity opened to establish a refuge for the 
oppressed. In 1675 Edward Byllinge bought of 
Lord John Berkeley for ^1000, one undivided half 
of New Jersey. Under this indirect purchase mis- 
understandings arose, but they were managed by the 
arbitration of William Penn, to whom, vv'ith two 
others, Byllinge assigned his property for the bene- 
fit of his creditors, on account of his failure. The 
nine-tenths of Byllinge's share, that is the one half of 
New Jersey, was offered for sale in decimal shares 
of tenths and hundredths ; to carry out the purpose 
of an asylum for the persecuted, these shares were 



24 

largely taken by Quakers. The part of the State 
thus allotted to the Quakers was W^est Jersey, the 
line of division running from Egg Harbor to a point 
on the Delaware River, under the forty-first degree 
of north latitude and near Burlington. 

Now the Quakers had the opportunity for forming 
a government, and in 1677, the very year Penn was 
offering this asylum to the persecuted Germans, it 
was announced "We lay a foundation for after ages 
to understand their liberty as Christians and as men, 
that they might not be brought into bondage, but by 
their own consent, for we put the power in the 'peopled 

" Freedom of conscience, the ballot box, equality 
before the law, the right of assembly, freedom of 
the press, popular sovereignty, trial by jury, open 
courts, free legislatures, this was the kind of a State 
in w^hich refuge was offered the oppressed. Thus in 
New Jersey Penn's model of a state first found form." 

.Vcross the river was a large tract of land upon 
which several colonies of Swedes and Dutch had 
settled, the first colony arriving in i 638, the Swedes 
coming as permanent settlers, while the Dutch were 
adventurers, fond of trading and navigation, who 
came without their families to secure furs and pelts. 

When Admiral Penn died, a part of the wealth 
he left his son was a claim acyainst Kino- Charles' 
Government for money lent, which witli interest 
amounted to ^15,000. But now the King had 



25 

neither money nor credit, and this proved to bo tlic 
opportunity of Penn to carry out his purpose of a 
state, an holy experiment, in which the question of 
rehgious freedom might be fully tested, so that he 
petitioned the King to grant him, in lieu of the 
/" 1 5,000, a tract of country in America, north of 
Maryland, with the Delaware on the east, its western 
limits the same as those of Maryland, and its north- 
ern as far as plantable country extended. This 
petition was received June 14, 1680. "It stated 
that the object of the petition was not only to pro- 
vide a peaceful home for the persecuted members 
of the Society of Friends, but to afford an asylum 
for the good and oppressed of every nation on a 
basis of a practical application of the pure and 
peaceable principles of Christianity." 

As was to be expected this was strenuously op- 
posed, and Penn's theories were by many held to 
be Ut«^pian and dangerous alike to church and state, 
but Penn's friends prevailed, and on March 4, 1681, 
the King signed the desired grant, the King himself 
giving the territory the name Pennsylvania. At 
this time Penn was ^J years of age, and happy in 
having the greatest desires of his life thus far granted. 

This and the following year were occupied with 
the most arduous labors. He at once sent out a 
deputy to act as his representative in Pennsylvania 
i/.itil his arrival, to get possesi:ion of the province as 



26 

speedily as possible, to insure the allegiance of the 
the people, secure the revenue, and prepare the way 
for Penn. 

Now Penn largely advertised his province, setting 
forth its attractive features, its opportunities to 
settlers, and its prospects for future growth. He 
also stated and had circulated ample information 
regarding the expense of emigration and settling, 
with instructions as to what people should take with 
them, in short, wise statesman that he was, he 
sought to turn the eyes of all Europe to his colony as 
the best and most desirable on the face of the earth- 
Thus he labored, .securing emigrants, selling tracts 
of land, and preparing for his own departure. 

On the ist of September, 1682, in the ship "Wel- 
come," three hundred tons, he embarked at Deal 
with a large company of Quakers, and arrived at 
New Castle on the Delaware, October 27, 1682, 

Penn was at this time 38 years of age, still )'oung, 
graceful, athletic, enthusiastic, still fond of boating 
and riding. Mr. J. 1*". Fisher thus describes him, 
'' The true costume of the figure would have been 
that in vogue towards the end of the reign of 
Charles II This (as nearly as I can ascertain) was 
a collarless coat, perfectly straight in front, with 
many buttons, showing no waist, nor cut Into skirts, 
having only a short buttoned slit behind, the sleeves 
hardly descending below the elbow^ and having 
large cuffs, showing the full shirt sleeves. The vest 



27 

was as long as the coat, and, except as to the sleeves, 
made apparently in the same way. The breeches 
were very full, open at the sides, and tied with 
strings." Penn was very particular as to his hat 
and wig, and wore a pair of leather stockings. 

Penn's first experience in Pennsylvania is thus 
described, " It was the second week in November 
when the ' Welcome's' passengers landed, and the 
winds must have already been bleak and cutting, with 
now and then a film of ice or a flurry of snow, to 
prevent them from forgetting that winter was about 
to come. The first purchasers (and others who 
came over at this time) were nearly all Quakers, 
well to do people at home, who had sold their 
property in England and sought refuge in America 
to escape the prosecutions that had been visited 
upon them so often and so severely. They had 
servants, and were well supplied with clothing and 
provisions. Some of them were delicately nurtured 
women and children, unused to hardships of any 
kind. To such persons there would harve been 
nothing romantic and nothing inviting in the pros- 
pect of a winter camp-meeting on the banks of the 
Delaware. The woods and swamps were so deep 
and thick between the two rivers that a span of 
hobbled horses lost there were not recovered for 
several months. There were no roads, scarcely 
paths, and the low houses of the Swedes and the 
lodges of the Indians were few and far apart. But 



2^ 



the Quakers were a patient, long-suffering people, 
and the lofty woods of Coaquanock afforded at 
least a far better lodging place than the loathsome 
jails of England, in which many of them had 
languished. The air was pure, the water was clear 
and good, and the hearts of the adventurers beat 
high with hope. Their arms were strong, and they 
had good teachers in the Swedes, and the wood was 
plenty, both for fuel and other purposes, and every 
one had his axe and his spade." 

"Some dug holes and caves in the dry banks of 
the two rivers, propped the superincumbent earth 
up with timbers, and, hanging their pots and kettles 
on improvised stakes and hooks at the entrances, 
speedily had warm and comparatively comfortable 
lodgings in the style of what hunters used to call 

* half-faced camps.' Others rolled together forty or 
fifty logs, notched them at each end, and aided by 
their neighbors, could In a day or two, erect ' log 
cabins,' and these, roofed over with poles, upon 
which a thatch of bark from dead and fallen trees 
was laid, and the Interstices between the loirs 

* chinked' with stones, mud, and clay, made resi- 
dences Vv-hlch, in some sections of the country, are still 
thought to he good enough for any body. Others 
made more primitive huts still of stakes, bark, and 
brushwood, such as the savages sometimes toss 
together for their summer lodgings. The settlers 
had blankets and warm clothes In abundance, and 



we may suppose that the furs which the Indians 
brought in were in ready demand. With all these 
rude resources, we may safely believe that the early 
adventurers on the Delaware got through their first 
winter without much suffering or many deaths. 
There was no such distress as at Jamestown or at 
Plym'outh. While their dwellings were not of the 
kind they had been accustomed to, it made but little 
difference to them because of the deep satisfaction 
with the religious liberty they enjoyed." 

" Free from the presence and threats of their 
oppressors they could worship God as they chose, 
and in their worship found sufficient delights to take 
away the regrets for the lack of outward comforts. 
Hope spread her wings over them, and they joyfully 
looked for the coming of a brighter day when the 
birds would come back from the South, and the 
flowers peeping forth from their hiding places would 
greet the newly born verdure of meadows and 



trees 



ClIArTKR III, 
Tiic Germans, and tlic Founding of Gcnnantoivn. 

N the same year that Penn took possession of 
liis Province, the work which he had clone in 
his preaching tour through Germany, five 
years before, bore fruit. Eight German m)stics or 
Mennonites, Penn's converts, formed a company 
which they called the Frankfort company, who pur- 
chased 25,000 acres of land in Pennsylvania, resolv- 
ing to transport themselves and their families to that 
place. Their account of this purchase, and their 
enthusiasm awakened the enthusiasm of Francis 
Daniel Pastorius, a young man of thirty-one years 
of ao-e, w^ho determined that he would also go to 
the New World. 

Pastorius was a man of good family of official 
standing ; he was well acquainted with the classical 
languages, and with French, Dutch, English and 
Italian. I le had been educated at the University 
of Strasburg, the High school of Basle, and the Law 
school of Jena. He began the practice of law in 
Frankfort, then traveled for two years in Holland, 
England, k' ranee, Su itzerland and his own country. 
He was a prolific writer, a school teacher, a poet, 
liistorian, humorist, and was the possessor of fine 



31 

administrative ability. He sailed from London for 
Piiiiadelphia on June loth, 1683. He became the 
founder of Germantown. 

On June i ith, 1683, Penn sold 1000 acres of land 
each to Govert Remke, Lenart Arets, and Jacob. 
Isaacs Von Bebber, a baker, all of Crefeld. It was 
from Crefeld that the first impulse to German emi- 
gration was o;iven. 

Crefeld was a town on the Rhine, close to the 
Netherland country. It was a population embracing 
many weavers and craftsmen, and among these 
many Quakers and Mennonites who had been the 
victims of persecution. 

In his visit of 1677 Penn preached to them and 
aroused their hope for a land of liberty, and now 
that he had purchased the Province, he sells the 
land to them that they desired. He sold to Jacob 
Telncr, Jans Strypers, and Dirch Sipman, of Crefeld, 
each 5000 acres in the Province, The most of the 
colony that came from Crefeld were weavers, and 
sending Pastorius to select their lands for them, he 
came, obtained the tract, named it Germanopolis, 
and then it was called Germantown and is so called 
to-day. "From that time many came to the land of 
freedom, and Germantown grew, sent out offshoots, 
had its representatives in the Assembly — Pastorius 
and Abraham Opden Graeff — was incorporated as a 
borough in 1681, with Pastorius for bailiff, Telner 
and others, burgesses, etc., and had power to hold 



a court and inarke^t, lay fines, and enact ordinances. 
The people were called together once a )'ear and 
had the laws read to them." 

Loher says of the people, "They would do noth- 
ing but work and pray, and their mild conscience 
made them opposed to the swearing of oaths and 
courts, and would not sufter them to use harsh 
weapons against thieves and trespassers." 

But they were diligent workers, and their fine 
linen was highly valued. So many of them were 
spinners that Pastorius in devising a town seal, 
selected a trefoil of clover, one leaf bearing a vine, 
one a stalk of llax, tlie third a weaver's spool, with 
the motto, Pliiuui, Limmi, ct Textriniun. 

When William Penn arrived in 1682 not more 
than a few wigwams, and not over twenty houses, 
were on the present site of the city of Philadelphia, 
while on the eastern side of the Delaware, from 
Salem to Trenton there were not more than 3,500 
white inhabitants. In tVv'o years the population oi 
Philadelphia had increased to 2,500, and trade had 
been established with England, the West Indies, 
South America, and the Mediterranean. 

In the year 1 699 Philadelphia had a population 
of 5000, and the Province more than 20,000, the 
most of whom were the victims of persecution 
in Hngland, Wales, France, Germany and other 
countries ot Europe. 



00 



Laurens Hendricks, one of the Germans, says of 
his people, " They were naturally very rugged 
people, who could endure much hardships ; they 
wore long unshaven beards, disordered clothing, 
great shoes, which were heavily hammered with 
iron and large nails ; they lived in the mountains of 
Switzerland, far from cities and towns, with little 
intercourse with other men ; their speech is rude and 
uncouth, and they have difficulty in understanding 
any one who does not speak just their way ; they 
are very zealous to serve God with prayer and 
reading and in other ways, and very innocent in all 
their doings as lambs and doves." 

While this might describe some, it would not 
describe all who were Germans in the settlements. 

The Germans started from Germantovvn as their 
headquarters, and went north into the interior ; the 
W.elsh south of the Schuylkill, while the Quakers 
still south of them, also between the German settle- 
ments on the north and the Delaware, as also 
forming the greater number of the inhabitants in 
the city of Philadelphia. " Of thesp Swiss emigrants 
just described, it is recorded in their records, how, 
after they had decided to emigrate, they returned 
to the Palatinate to seek their wives and children, 
who are scattered everywhere in Switzerland, in 
Alsace and in the Palatinate, and tJiey know not 
w lie re they are to be foiuid!' 



34 

Pastorius used a cave as his first habitation, and 
it was in this cave in 1683 that the apportionment 
of lots in Germantown was made. Pastorius then 
built himself a small cabin thirty feet long, eighteen 
feet broad with a partition near the middle. This 
house was furnished with windows of oiled paper. 

In 1685 the town w^as laid out, and running 
through it was a street sixty feet wide. This street 
followed an Indian trail, and on each side were 
very thick woods inhabited by bears and other 
wild animals. 

In I 700 this street for the distance of a mile was 
lined on each side with peach trees in full bearing. 
The houses of the settlers were, each one, sur- 
rounded with a garden, while such enterprising men 
as Rittenhouse, Robeson, Dewees, etc., established 
mills along the wild and romantic Wissahickon. 

In building their houses the Germans built with 
one chimney in the center of the building, which 
was different from that of all other settlers. They 
used great porcelain stoves, such as the)' had used 
in their former homes, until Christopher .Saur, the 
Germantown printer, invented the ten-plate stove. 
There were no carpets of any kind, but in the 
plainest way they lived, priding themselves on the 
abundance of clothing they owned, and on the 
heartiness with which they ate their food. 

William Penn established annual fairs to encour- 
r.^v: the people in the quality of their productions, 



03 



and in 1686 it is recorded that Abraham Opden 
Graeff", of Germantown, petitioned Council to grant 
him the Governor's premium for the first and finest 
piece of linen cloth. 

One item of history should be recorded as one of 
many evidences of the clear ideas of right and wrong 
held by these Germantown settlers. "In 1688 
Pastorious, Opden Graeff, and Gerhardt Hendricks 
sent to the Friend's Meeting House the first public 
protest ever made on this continent against the 
holding of slaves, or, as they uncompromisingly 
styled it, 'the traffic of men's body.' They compare 
negro slavery to slavery under Turkish pirates, and 
cannot see that one is better than the other. 'There 
is a saying that we shall doe to all men licke as we 
will be done ourselves ; making no difference of 
what generation, descent, or colour they are, and 
those who steal or robb men, and those who buy or 
purchase them, are they not all alicke? Here is 
liberty of conscience wch is right and reasonable ; 
here ought to be lickewise liberty of ye body, except 
of evil doers, wch is another case. In Europe there 
are many oppressed for conscience sake ; and here 
are those oppressed wch die of a black colour.'" 

"The Germans asked, ' Have these negroes not 
as much right to fight for their freedom as you have 
to keep them slaves?' and asked further to be 
informed what right Christians have to maintain 
slavery, ' to the end we shall be satisfied in this 



V 



point and satlsfie likewise our good friends and 
acquaintances in our natif country, to whom it is a 
terrour or fairfuU th'mg' that men should be handled 
so in Pennsylvania.' The Quakers were embar- 
rassed by the memorial, and its blunt style of 
interrogatory. It was submitted to the Monthly 
Meeting, inspected and found weight^', passed to 
the Quarterly Meeting, then recommended to the 
Yearly Meeting, which, meeting at Burlington, 
backed down from a clear decision by reporting it 
' not to be so proper for this meeting to give a 
positive judgment in the case. It having so general 
a relation to many other parts, and therefore, at 
present, they forebore it.' So the matter slept." 

In Germantown, the law courts descended to 
some very minute matters in order to preserve the 
moral tone of the community. As an example, 
" Peter Keurlis, charged with not coming when the 
justices sent for him, witli refusing to lodge travelers, 
with selling barley-nialt at four pence per quart, and 
of violating Germantown law by selling more than 
a gill of rum and a quart of beer every half-day to 
each individual.' Peter's answer was, 'He did not 
come because he had much work to do ; he did nof 
entertain travelers because he only sold drink and 
did not keep an ordinary. He. knew nothing about 
the four pence a quart law of the Province, and as 
for the Germantown statute, the people he sold to 
being able to bear more, he could not or would not 



37 

obey the law.' He lost his license. For calling' 
hard names, calling a witch, cheating, swearing, 
•dancing after ten o'clock at night, women dressing \ 
in men's apparel, and such like offenders, were sent 
to the house of correction or the duckinof stool. 

In 1704 William Dewees was Constable in Ger- 
smantown, and it was his duty to be very careful in 
•guarding against the breaking of the law. In 1 706 
he was the Sheriff of the town. 

William Penn's invitation to the Germans to 
settle in his province was so gladly received by 
them, that every year large shiploads came, and 
the people dispersed themselves throughout the 
back country, until the English people became 
alarmed. They were afraid of being out-voted in ^ 
the control of the Province. They were afraid that 
the whole tone of the Province would be changed 
from what it had originally been intended. Hence , 
the effort was made to restrict emigration, and all 
after September, 1727, were marched in line to the 
court house where they laid down their guns, met 
the Governor, subscribed the oaths, saluted the ' 
Governor with three volleys, the same to the Mayor 
and Sheriff, and so back to the ship. 

Douglas, the historian, in 1755, says, "This 
colony, by importation of foreigners and other 
strangers in very great numbers, grows prodig- 
iously ; by their laborious and penurious manner of j 
living, they grow rich where others starve and by I 



38 

their superior industry and frugality may in time 
drive out the British people from the colony." 

The extent of the German immigration was indeed 
surprising, for several years it averaged 2000 a year, 
and they came not as paupers, but with money to 
purchase lands and with strong frame and hopeful 
hearts to build their homes. The persecution they 
had endured in Germany no doubt made them 
wary, and the strangeness of their language made 
them clannish, so that a false impression was created 
in regard to them in the minds of the English, and 
that impression remains even to this present day. 
History written by the English has misrepresented 
them persistently, and only now when the records 
are searched can we see the real power and virtue 
of these noble Germans, who for conscience sake left 
their homes and builded anew in the American 
forests. 

It is difficult at this day to determine what was 
the main reason prompting the impolitic and strange 
conduct of the assembly of the Province toward 
the immigrants from the Palatinate, In one year 
from December 1728 to December 1729 over 6000 
emigrants came, but the greater number of these 
were from Ireland, but the report was that a great- 
number would come from the Palatinate the fol- 
•iowing year. Hence the assembly made haste to 
enact the law la)ing a duty of forty shillino;'s per 



39 

head on all aliens imported. Gordon siig^gests that 
the reason of this law may have been to Increase 
the revenue of the Province. 

He says, "In justice to the Germans, it should be 
told that this law was enacted in the face of a report 
of a committee* of the house, containing satisfactory 
evidence of their good conduct. 'The Palatines 
who had been imported directly into the Province, 
iiad purchased and honestly paid for their lands, 
had conducted thamselves respectably towards the 
government, paid their taxes readily, and were a 
sober and honest people in their religious and civil 
duties. Yet some who had come by the way of 
New York, and elsewhere, had seated themselves 
on lands of the proprietaries and others, and refused 
to yield obedience to the government.' " 

The early settlers of Germantown were not only 
distinguished for their excellent weaving, but also 
for their love of learning. We have seen that Pas- 
torious was a fine scholar, and we will see that in 
this he was not an exception, nor was he without 
conoenial associates in this settlement. 

The Germans soon laid hold of the printing 
press, and with characteristic religious zeal made a 
specialty of printing the Word of God. They felt , 
that their freedom depended upon a general adher- i 
ence to that Word. They loved it, believed it,'| 
rejoiced in it, and no household ccuid be counted i 



40 

J as complete without a copy of that Word. Hence 
-one of the earliest triumphs In art by the Germans 
of Germantown was the printing of the Bible, in 
which all the mechanical work was done by them- 
selves, and that specimen of their skill to-day is an 
honor to their zeal and thorough workmanship. 




A DELAWARE INDIAN. 



CilAl'lEU IV, 

The Indians. 

^^IWiHE vastness of the forests impresseJ the 
j^^^lli colonists with a dread of the pecuharand 
(^:§5?^ mysterious people who dwelt in them, 

"vp^" and immigration aided largely in forming 
a judgment of these future neighbors. Their man- 
ners were so different that it was almost impossible 
to do them justice, for the only standard by which 
they could be tried was the European. There was 
a great misconception as to their numbers. They 
did not dwell in great swarms, nor rove in large 
armies, nor dwell in large cities. The Indians were 
really few in number. " In 1 665 there were only 
11,750, all told, of Iroquois, 2,350 of them being 
warriors, and these required 6o,ooo square miles for 
their hunting grounds. The Susquehannas never 
had more than 8,000 souls. The Canada Hurons 
never exceeded 20,000 in all. The most populous 
branch of the Algonquins, the Mohegans of New 
York and New England, Parkman commutes could 
not have had more than 8000 fighting men, or 
40,000 in all. The Lenapes of Pennsylvania and 
i\'ew Jersey could scarcely have reached half so 
many. Gordon thinks that at the most populous 

41 



42 

period there must have been less than 47,000 
Indians within the limits of Pennsylvania." 

It is interesting to read Penn's description of 
them, "They are generally tall, straight in their 
persons, well built, and of singular proportion ; they 
tread strong and clever, and mosdy walk with a 
lofty chin. Of complexion black, but by design as 
the gypsies in England. They grease themselves 
with bear's fat clarified, and usino- no defence against 
si>n and weather, their skins must needs be swarthy. 
Their eye is livid and black, not unlike a straight 
looked Jew. The thick lips and flat nose, so fre- 
quent with the East Indians and blacks, are not 
common to them, for I have seen as comely Euro- 
pean-like faces among them, of both sexes, as on 
your side the sea ; and truly an Italian complexion 
hath not more of the white ; and the noses of several 
of them have as much of the Roman. Their lan- 
guage is lofty yet narrow ; but, like the Hebrew, in 
signification, lull. Like shorthand in writing, one 
word serveth in the place of three, and the rest are 
supplied by the understanding of the hearer ; imper- 
fect in their tenses, wanting in their moods, partici- 
ples, adverbs, conjunctions, and interjections. I 
have made it m)- business to understand it, that I 
might not want an interpreter on any occasion ; and 
I must say that I know not a language spoken in 
Europe that hath words of more sweetness or great- 
ness, in accent and emohasis, than theirs. For 



43 

instance, Octokekon, Rancocas, Oricton, Shak, 
Marian, Poquesian, all of which are names of places, 
and have grandeur in them. Of words of sweet- 
ness, anna is mother ; issimics, a brother ; neteapy 
friend ; usqueoret, very good ; pave, bread ; metsa, 
eat ; mattu, no ; hatta, to have ; payo, to come ; 
Sepassen, Passijon, the names of places ; Tamane, 
Secane, Menanse, Secataseus, are the names of 
persons. If we ask them for anything they have 
not, they will answer, mattu ne hatta, which, to 
translate, is ' not I have,' instead of ' I have not.' 

" Of their customs and manners there is much to 
be said. I will begin with children. So soon as they 
are born they are washed in water, and while very 
young and in cold weather to choose, they plunge 
them in the river to harden and embolden them. 
Having wrapped them in a clout they' lay them on a 
straight thin board a little more than the length and 
breadth of the child, and swaddle it fast upon the 
board to make it straight ; wherefore all Indians 
have flat heads ; and thus they carry them at their 
backs. The children will go (walk) very young, at 
nine months commonly. They v.-ear only a small 
clout around their waist till they are big. If boys, 
they go a fishing till ripe for the vvoods, which is 
about fifteen. There they hunt, and having given 
some proofs of their manhood by a' good return of 
skins, they marry ; else it is shame to think of a 
wife. The girls stay with their mothers, and help 



44 

to hoe the ground, plant corn, and t:arry burdens; 
■and they do well to use them to that, while young, 
which they must do when they are old ; for the 
waives are the true servants of the husbands ; other- 
wise the men are very affectionate to them. Wlien 
the young women are fit for marriage they wear 
something upon their heads for an advertisement, 
but so as their faces are hardly to be seen but when 
they please. The age they marry at, if women, is 
about thirteen or fourteen, if men seventeen or 
eighteen. They are rarely older. Their houses 
ire mats or barks of trees, set on poles in the fashion 
of an English barn, but out of the power of the 
winds, for they are hardly higher than a man. 
They lie on reeds or grass. In travel they lodge in 
the woods about a great fire, with the mantle ot 
duffils they wear by day wrapt about them and a 
few boufjhs stuck round them. Hieir diet is maize, 
or Lidian corn, divers ways prepared, sometimes 
roasted in the ashes, sometimes beaten and boiled 
with water, which they call homhie. They also 
make cakes not unpleasant to cat. They have 
likewise several sorts of beans and peas diat are 
good nourishment, and the woods and rivers owe 
their larder. If an European comes to see them or 
calls for lodging at their house or wigwam, they 
give him the best place and first cut. If they come 
to visit us they salute us with an Itah ! which is as 
much as to say, ' Good be to you !' and set them 



45 

clown, which Is mostly on the ground, close to their 
heels, their legs upright ; it may be they speak not 
a word, but observe all that passes. If you give 
them anything to eat or drink, well, for they will 
not ask ; and, be it little or much, if it be with kind- 
ness, they are well pleased ; else they go away 
sullen, but say nothing. They are great concealers 
of their own resentments, brought to it, I believe, by 
the revenge that hath been practiced among them. 
In either of these they are not exceeded by the 
Italians. 

" In liberality they excel ; nothing is too good for 
their friend ; give them a fine gun, coat, or other 
thing, it may pass through twent)' hands before it 
sticks ; light of heart, strong affections, but soon 
spent. The most merry creatures that live, feast 
and dance perpetually ; they never have much, nor 
never want much ; wealth circulateth like the blood ; 
all parts partake, and though none shall want what 
another hath, yet exact observers of property. 
Some Kings have sold, others presented me with 
several parcels of land ; the pay or presents I made 
them were not hoarded by the particular owners ; 
but the neiQ;hborincr Kinofs and their clans beiuQ" 
present when the goods were brought out, the 
parties chiefly concerned consulted what and to 
whom they should give them. To every King then, 
by the hands of a person for that work appointed, 
is a proportion sent, so sorted and folded, and with 



46 

that gravity that is adinh-able. Then that Kiiij 
subdivicleth it in hke manner among his dependent::, 
they hardly leaving themselves an equal share with. 
one of their subjects ; and be it on such occasion:; 
or festivals, *or at their common meals, the Kingo 
distribute, and to themselves last. 

" They care for little, because they want but little ; 
and the reason is, a little contents them. In this 
they are sufficiently revenged on us ; if they are 
ignorant of our pleasures,- they are also free from 
our pains. Since the Europeans came into these 
parts they are grown great lovers of strong liquors, 
rum especially, and for it they exchange the richest 
of their skins and furs. If they are heated with 
liquors they are restless till they have enough to 
sleep, that is their cr)-, some more and I will go io 
sleep ; but w'hen drunk one of the most wretched 
spectacles in the world. In sickness, impatient to 
be cured ; and lor it give anything, especially for 
their children, to whom they are extremely n: 'iral. 
They drink at these a iisan, or decoction of some 
roots in spring water ; and if they eat any Hesh it 
must be of the female of any creature, If thc^y die 
they bury them with their apparel, be they man or 
woman, and the nearest of kin llin"- in somethiniz 
precious with them as a token of their love, Their 
mourning is blacking of their faces, wliich they con- 
tinue for a year. They arc choice of the grave3 
of their dead, for, lest they sliould be lost by t'.inc 



47 

and fall to common use, they pick off the grass that 
grows upon them, and heap up the fallen earth with 
great care and exactness. These poor people are 
under a dark nio^ht in thino^s relatinof to rellcrion ; to 
be sure the tradition of it; yet they believe a God 
and immortality without the help of metaphysics, 
for they say, 'There is a Great King that made 
them, who dwells in a glorious country to the south- 
ward of them, and tl;iat the souls of the good shall 
go thither where they shall live again.' Their 
worship consists of two parts^ sacrifice and cantico. 
Their sacrifice is their first fruits ; the first and 
fattest buck they kill goeth to the fire, where he is 
all burnt, with a mournful ditty of him that per- 
ibrmeth the ceremony, but with such marvellous 
iervency and labor of body that he will even sweat 
to a foam. The other part is their cantico, per- 
formed by round dances, sometimes words, some- 
times songs, then shouts, two being in the middle 
that begin, and by singing and dancing on a board 
direct the chorus. Their postures in the dance arc 
very antick and different, but all keep measure. 
This is done with equal earnestness and labor, but 
great appearance of joy. 

" In the Pall when the corn cometh in, they begin 
to feast one another. There have been two great 
feasts already, to which all come that will. I was 
at one mvself ; their entertainment was a ereat seat 
by a spring under some shady trees, and twent\- 



48 

bucks with hot cakes of new corn, both wheat and 

beans, which they made up in a square form in the 

leaves of the stem and bake them in the ashes, and 

after that they fall to dance. But they that go must 

carry a small present in their money ; it may be 

sixpence, which is made of the bone of a fish ; the 

black is with them as gold, the vv'hite silver ; they 

call it wampum. Their government is by kings, 

which they call Sachama, and these by succession, 

but always on the mother's side. The reason they 

render for this way of descent is, that their issue 

may not be spurious. Every king hath his council, 

md that consists of all the old and wise men of the 

nation, which perhaps is 200 people. Nothing of 

moment is undertaken, be it war, peace, selling of 

'and, or traffic, without advising with them, and, 

which is more with the young men too. It is 

admirable to consider how powerful the kings are, 

and yet how they move by the breath of their 

people. I have had occasion to be in council with 

them upon tre.aties of land, and to adjust the terms 

of trade. Tlieir order is thus : The king sits in the 

middle of an half moon, and hath his council, the 

old and wise on each hand ; behind them^ or at a 

little distance, sit the younger fry in the same figure. 

Having consulted and resolvctl their business, the 

king ordered one of them to speak to me ; he stood 

up, came to me, and, in the name of his king, 

saluted me ; then took me by the hand and told me, 



49 

He was ordered by his king to speak to me, and 
that now it was not he, but the king that spoke ; 
because what he should say was the king's mind.' 
He first prayed me ' to excuse them, that they had 
not compHed with me last time, he feared there 
might be some fault in the interpreter, being neither 
Indian nor English ; besides, it was the Indian cus- 
tom to deliberate and take up much time in council 
before they resolve, and that if the young people 
and owners of the land had been as ready as he, I 
had not met with so much delay.' Having thus 
introduced his matter, he fell to the bounds of the 
land they had agreed to dispose of and the price, 
which now is little and dear, that which would have 
bought twenty miles not buying now two. During 
the time that this man spoke not a man of them 
was seen to whisper or smile, the old grave, the 
young reverent in their deportment. They speak 
little, but fervently and with elegance. I have never 
seen more natural sagacity, considering them with- 
out the help of tradition, and he will deserve the 
name of wise that outwits them in any treaty about 
a thing they understand." 

Penn thus presents the most favorable phase of 
their character. He always found them to be hon- 
orable and trusty, and they deeply reverenced him. 
He never saw the bursting forth of the darker 
side of their nature, so familiar a little more than 
half a century afterward. 



50 

Charles Thomas, who had the best of opportuni- 
ties for observing them, says " They were perfect 
strangers to the use of iron. The instruments with 
which they dug up the grouud were of wood, or a 
stone fastened to a handle of wood. Their hatchets 
for cutting were of stone, sharpened to an edge by 
rubbing, and fastened to a wooden handle. Their 
arrows were pointed with flint or bone. What 
clothing they wore was of the skins of animals 
taken in hunting, and their ornaments were princi- 
pally of feathers. They all painted or daubed their 
faces with red. . The men suffered only a tuft of 
hair to grow on the crown of their head ; the rest, 
whether on their head or faces, they prev^ented from 
growing by constantly plucking it out by the roots, 
so they always appeared as if they were bald and 
beardless. Many were in the habit of marking 
their faces, arms, and breast by picking the skin 
with thorns and rubbing the parts with a fine 
powder made of charcoal, which, penetrating the 
punctures left an indelible stain or mark, which 
remained as long as they lived. The punctures 
were made in figures according to their several 
fancies. The only part of the body which they 
covered was from the waist half way down to the 
thighs, and their feet they guarded with a kind of 
shoe made of hides of buffaloes or deerskin, laced 
tight over the instep and up to the ankles with 
thonsfs. It was and still continues to be a common 



51 

practice among the men to slit their ears, putting 
something into the hole to prevent its closing, and 
then by hanging weights to the lower part to stretch 
it out, so that it hangs down the cheek like a large 
ring. They had no knowledge of the use of silver 
and gold. Instead of money they used a kind of 
beads made of conch shells manufactured in a curious 
manner. These beads were made, some of the 
white, some of the black or colored parts of the 
shell. They were formed into cylinders about one 
quarter of an inch long and were a quarter of an 
inch in diameter. They were round and highly 
polished and perforated lengthwise with a small 
hole, by which they strung them together and wove 
them into belts, some of which, by a proper arrange- 
ment of the beads of different colors, were figured 
like carpetting with different figures according to 
the various uses for which they were designed. 
These were made use of in their treaties and inter- 
course with each other, and served to assist their 
memor)' and preserve the remembrance of trans- 
actions. When different tribes or nations made 
peace or alienee with each other they exchanged 
belts of one sort. Hence they were distinguished 
by the name of peace or war belts. Every mes- 
senger sent from one tribe to another was accom- 
panied with a string of these beads or a belt, and 
the string or belt was smaller or greater according 
:o the weight and importarxe of the subject. These 



52 

beads were their riches. They were worn as brace- 
lets and like chains round the neck by way of 
ornament." 

It is interesting to know how, when the medium 
of exchange among them was so different from that 
of the settlers, they bargained. 

"In 1677 a tract of land twenty miles square on 
the Delaware between Timber and Oldman's creel: 
was purchased for the following : thirty match coats 
(made of hairy wool with the rough side out) twenty 
guns, thirty kettles, one great kettle, thirty pair of 
hose, twenty fathoms of duffels (Dufiield blanke': 
cloth of which match coats were made), thirty petti- 
coats, thirty narrow hose, thirty bars of lead, fifteen 
small barrels of powder, seventy knives, thirty In- 
gian axes, seventy combs, sixty pairs of tobacco 
tongs, sixty pair of scissors, sixty tinshaw looking 
glasses, one hundred and twenty awl blades, one 
hundred and twent}' fish hooks, two grasps of red 
paint, one hundred and twenty needles, sixt)- tobiicco 
boxes, one hundred and twenty pipes, two hundred 
bells, one hundred jews harps, and anchors of rum." 

Indian villages were few, far between, and small, 
but the forests were traversed on regularly estab- 
lished and well-known paths called trails. The 
footprint of an Indian could be at once recognized, 
for he always stepped with a perfectly straight 
foot, and without turning his toes out, so that if the 
sun v;as upon his back, the shadow of his shanks 



53 

would entirely cover his feet. To the Indian the 
advantage of this was, he was able to walk more 
safe])' the narrow forest path, and to step also with 
grcatci- stealth and softness in pursuit of his enemy 
and his game where leaves to rustle and twigs to 
break are numerous, and also to carry himself sin- 
gularly straight, his shoulders never diverging from 
a pcrp:jndicular." 

The huts of the Indians were so constructed that 
the smoke from the fire in the center of the hut 
went out of the top. In winter the atmosphere of 
these huts Vv'as of the most objectionable character 
to those not accustomed to it. 

" The interior of the cabin was stained and dingy 
v/ith smoke tliat could find no regular outlet, and it 
was so pungent and acrid as to cause much infla- 
mation of the eyes, and blindness in old age. The 
fleas and other vermin were bad and the children 
were noisy and unruly beyond parallel, raising a 
pandemonium in each lodge, which the shrill shriek- 
ing of the Hecate like squaws added to without 
controlling it. Parkman draws a vivid picture of a 
lodge on a Winter night, lighted up by the uncer- 
tain flickers of resinous flames that sent fitful flashes 
through the dingy canopy of smoke, a bronzed 
group encircling the fire, cooking, eating, gambling, 
or amusing themselves with idle chaff; grizzly old 
warriors, scarred with the marks of repeated battles ; 
shriveled squaws, hideous with toil and hardships 



54 

endured for half a century; young warriors with a 
record to make, vain, boastful, obstreperous ; giddy 
girls, gay with paint, ochre, wampum and braid ; 
restless children, pell-mell with restless dogs." 

Such were the strange people who hovered 
around the frontier settlements, gradually receding 
as the settlers advanced, but for the first century of 
the history of the Province the neighbors of the 
Europeans who in their wilderness, by the sacrifice 
of all the comforts of cultured society and Euro- 
pean conveniences sought to established christian 
homes. 



Chapter V. 
Immigration and Settlement in the Wilderness. 

" Oh, say, why seek ye other lands ? 

The Neckar's vale hath wine and corn ; 
Full of dark firs the Schwarzwald stands; 

In Spessart-rings the Alp-herd's horn. 

Ah ! in strange forests how ye'll yearn 
For the green mountains of your home, 

To Deutschland's yellow wheat-fields turn 
In spirit o'er the vine hills roam." 

Freiligratii, 

N the year 1701 William Penn Issued Letter 
Patents granting to the Frankfort Company, 
composed of inhabitants of Frankfort on the 
Main, in Germany, and represented by their attor- 
neys, Daniel Falkner and Johannes Jawert, a tract 
of land containing 22,377 acres and situated where 
the borough of Pottstown now stands and extending 
back into the country about twelve miles. 

In 1708, Falkner, who resided in Germantown, 
granted this tract to John Henry Sprogell in con- 
sideration of the sum of ^5CX), in the current money 
of Pennsylvania, which was paid in " silver coyne." 
Sprogell cut up this vast domain into lots to suit 
purchasers, who were mostly merchants of Phila- 
delphia, who purchased for speculation. 

In the same manner the heirs of William Penn 
sold tracts lying east of the great tract. We cannot 

55 



56 

tell the dates in which the various leading men 
came to the American refuge. We do not know 
when William Dewees came, or whedier his coming 
influenced Frederick Antes to come. Nor do we 
know just what year Frederick Antes came. We 
do know, however, that he came when his son 
Henry was closely approaching manhood, for he 
had been carefully instructed in the articles of the 
Reformed faith, by a competent master in the 
Fatherland. No longer a child, but able to weigh 
such matters seriously, he was undoubtedly filled 
with a spirit of enthusiasm such as has ever marked 
the German character when the deepest chords of 
their souls wete touched. 

All Germany was aroused by the reports of the 
agents of William Penn. Perhaps every ship that 
came had on board some one who would become 
important in the growth of the colony. It was now 
an unrecorded rush of emic^rants, who came to make 
the most of the opportunities as they should open 
before them. And to-day their descendents are 
the bone and sinew of the State. 

How beautiful was the Rhineland to these people 
as for the last time they gazed upon it, with its 
splendidly rolling hills, its steep bluffs, its majestic 
rivers, its hills crowned with ancient castles^ large 
baronial halls and frowning fortresses ; its green 
fields, extensive vineyards, and its noble forests ; 
its cities with halls of learning, large and ornate 



57 

cathedrals, palaces, and thousands of dwellings. 
All these were evidences of the growth of the civili- 
zation of the past, and now the demc n of persecution 
had swooped down upon the land, and those who 
loved It the most, who hoped for its purest redemp- 
tion, would only be permitted to remain there by 
bowing the neck to the conqueror, and robbing 
themselves of conscience. This they could not do. 
They had true hearts, and were fearless L^.'ore 
the foe ; sturdy and brave, they said " we will make 
a home in the distant wilderness, where we shall 
be free. God will be with us there, and we shall 
make that land as our own." Then came the 
march to the seaport, and the venturesome em- 
barkation. 

The young man Henry Antes was not only 
bold in heart, but intelligent also. He was well 
Instructed In the faith, and could speak words of 
comfort and minister to the anxious ones in their 
sadness at the parting from home. They had no 
minister with them. It was a flock without a shep- 
herd, but what m.attered the forms and authority 
of ordination now, It was the spirit that made allve^ 
and did it not dwell in the noble Henry, the sweet 
singer of Freinshelms. 

The voyage in those days was long. Half a year 
often rolled away while the ship was breasting the 
billows. They were indeed at the mercy of the 
wind and the waves. Storms arose and beat upon 



58 

them, fhe water and sky meeting all about them at 
times seemed to be in a conspiracy for their destruc- 
tion. Sickness, too, entered their berths, even the 
dreadful small-pox scourge beset them. Many of 
their loved ones were cast overboard into the 
watery grave, which by its ceaseless motion sung 
the refrain, " No rest, no rest," while the sharks, 
with cruel, rapacious eyes, followed the vessel to 
rob the ocean of its prey. 

We can imagine Henry Antes with the fervor 
of youth, and the zeal of the martyr, standing before 
them and comforting them Only a full heart could 
give comfort at such a time, and his heart was full. 

He was strong in body, large in size, brave in 
manner, inspiring in presence, and quick to perceive 
the needs of the hour. And when he led the 
evening song, as the sun went down out of the sky 
into the sea before them, his fervent faith led them 
all to hope on, and pray on until the sun would no 
longer go down into the sea, but into the bosom of 
their own adopted homes. 

At last land was reached, and the broad river 
entered, and on either shore they beheld the woods 
stretching far a\vay in the distance from the waters 
edge. But it was not like their own Rhineland, 
here it was level, or but slightly elevated. 

And as they watched these wild forest-crowned 
shores, the city of Penn, the end of their sea 



59 

]Ourney, appeared before them. But how strangely 
different from the cities they had left. 

No cathedrals, no palaces, no great castles, no 
stone structures telling of the wars of man for full 
five hundred years, no great crowds of moving 
throngs, no soldiers In glittering array, no shout of 
thousands, no rushing to and fro, only a few hun- 
dred small houses scattered upon the hill by the 
bank of the river, and a number of quiet looking 
people who in a strange plain dress came down to 
the water's edo;e to see them, i.J'reet them, and bid 
them welcome to their city. These were the 
Quakers, the followers of William Penn into the 
wlklerness home, and the people whose honesty 
and peaceful conduct won the confidence and the 
respect of all the Indians of the forest. Their lan- 
guage was strange to the coming Immigrants, but 
their manners plainly conveyed their meaning. 

Back of the city in every direction the low hills 
were.covered with forests. These forests stretched 
over the great continent. Within them roamed 
numerous tribes of savage Indians, within them also 
lurked the bear, the panther, the wildcat, the stag, 
the wolf, and many smaller and less dangerous 
animals. The forests were well stocked with game, 
the streams with fish, the undergrowth with birds. 

Here indeed was the opportunity for the father 
tD provide for his little ones, and they rejoiced at 



6o 

the thought that they could make these forests 
pnmeval ring with the melody of their sa-cred songs 
as they rejoiced in their religious freedom, and not 
fear the approach of a foe. 

In Mahanitania was an immense tract of land 
embracing more than 22,000 acres. In this tract 
the ax of the setder had not yet been heard. It 
was a large hollow basin and afterwards was known 
as the Schwam (meadows). In this tract many of 
these persons were to find their way, but now they 
went only to the high hills back of thfe Quaker City, 
on the level lands above the Wissahickon. and 
there on the ascending ranges, swung their axes 
and built their cabins, within easy reach of the 
settlement at Germantown. 

One of those that had come over v\nth the earlier 
refugees from the Palatinate was William Dewees 
of the manufacturing town of Crefeld, on the 
Rhine. 

In the church Frederick Antes, the father of 
Henry Antes, and William Dewees were elders. 'to 
whom the body looked for guidance and counsel. 
But early in their acquaintance Henry Antes found 
a greater attraction in Christina, the daughter of 
William Dewees, who was not at all averse to the 
attentions he bestowed upon her. 

In the arrangements of the colony, William 
Dewees and his family remained in Germantown, 
and by the banks of the Wissahickon built a paper 



6i 

mill, and gathered his workmen around and called 
his new home after his old home, by the familiar 
title Crefeld. But Frederick Antes with his house- 
hold went farther into the forests and in Falkner 
swamp, a part of the Mahanatania tract of 25,000 
acres, chose his home, and gathered about him 
the bolder ones who were not afraid of the wil- 
derness. 

In this the real spirit of the ardent young Henry 
Antes found full play, and he delighted in the 
opportunities it gave him to lay a foundation for his 
ow.i future home. 

Though in appearance he was a big burly Ger- 
man farmer, in reality he was a man of faculties far 
above his surroundings. 

As a mechanic, with a quick eye and a ready 
hand, he could do his work in a manner that found 
no superior. As a scholar he became the writer 
of the legal documents of all his countrymen in 
that section. As a hunter, he studied the haunts 
and habits of* all the creatures he beheld in the 
woods. As a farmer he noted the qualities of the 
soil, and was able to point to the spot where in the 
future the best crops could be gathered. As a 
guide he learned every path of the forest and could 
follow a trail as surely as the Indians that dwelt 
near them, as a friend his counsel was wise and 
judicious, for he always sought for the guidance the 
eternal principles of truth and righteousness, and 



62 

as the years passed on, he became the principal 
man of the community, and with the esteem and 
affection of the people gathered about him wealth 
and honor. 

There was nothing elaborate in the dwellings of 
these settlers. All luxury in dwelling, furniture^ 
clothing, and such like had been left on the other 
side of the sea. Hence their principal possession 
at the first was the ax to cut down the trees, build 
the log house, split the logs and hew them and 
make the furniture. It was the ring of the ax that 
made the music on every side. It was the ax that 
first was crowned conqueror and king. 

What skill was here displayed ! how varied the 
stroke as to the purpose in view ! how the tight 
fitting logs proclaimed the skill of the buiMer! how 
the tables, the chairs, the bedfcteads all revealed 
the accuracy of the stroke and marked the cabinet 
maker ! Every house had a great wide door- way, 
through which a ho-rse could be driven, draofirincf 
into the cabin the huge back-log for the fire-place ; 
and the broad windows in which was placed oiled 
paper instead of glass. These people were hardy 
and lived mostly out of doors. They were not 
afraid of the sunshine or the winds, but inured to 
hardships delighted in their power to overcome 
the threatenings of the storms. 

The first consideration was a good strong house,. 



63 

with its fire-place covering an entire side of a room, 
a good spring of water near by, a running stream 
not far away, and a right to the acres of woodland 
about them, to clear for the coming crops. The 
fishing tackle they must all know how to use. The 
gun too must be familiar to man and woman. The 
men made their shoes, the women their clothes. 
The spinning-wheel stood beside every fire-place, 
and in the evenings its busy hum proclaimed the 
industry of the females. 

They needed neither clock nor watch, for by the 
sun they told the time of day. They needed but 
few of the implements of civilization, for they culti- 
vated their inventive faculties, and he who had 
the most talent was sure to reveal it in his 
dwelling. The family Bible and the hymn-book 
were sacred, and the life of the father was the guide 
for the son. In was in such a house and with such 
surroundings that Henry Antes began life in the 
land of the free and the home of the brave. 

Those were the days of stalwart manhood, 
when a man was master of his surroundings. He 
was conqueror, and in every act and every step of 
his life showed his superiority over the forces of 
nature and the demands of society. The scream 
of the panther at night gave them no fear, for well 
they knew that before the unerring aim of their 
rifles it would be sure to fall. Nor did they fear 



the face of the Indian as he p:jcrcd into their 
dwelHngs, for they trusted in their righteous deaHngs, 
giving a full equivalent for all they secured. 

And then when the Sabbath came, from all the 
country round about they gathered together, and 
Henry Antes, the most scholarly among them, read 
to them the Word of God. Stalwart men knelt 
down on the grass by the creeks, or on the leaves 
of the grove, and in loud voices poured forth their 
prayers to God, while with one accord the)- all 
sung the songs of Zion, until the woods v^ere made 
melodious with the sound. They sung the songs of 
the Fatherland, and then sent messages back over 
the sea to their kindred and friends telling tliern of 
the heart joys in the free, wild, pure life in the 
Western Wilderness. 




ClIAriER VI. 

Marriage of Henry Antes, and the Settlers of the New 
Country. BoeJiui's Administrations. 

HE stroke of Henry Antes was the sturdier 
as the fair face of Christina Dewees flashed 
before him, and he searched over hill and 
dale for a place to build for her the cot- 
tage which should be of the best. In his rambles 
he came to t!ie forks of the Perkeawming, and there 
saw the spot which was to be their home ; to win 
it was the problem his earnest labor was to solve. 

It was between thirty and forty miles from his 
father's house to Germantown, where Christina 
lived, but what was this distance when it was his 
love that called him ? And we can readily imagine 
what his feelings must have been as he frequently 
traversed this distance. 

The path lay along the top of the ridge, on the 
one side of which was the broken hill country, and 
on the other side flowed the Schuylkill. On his 
right he could see the broad valley with its many 
smaller streams emptying into the river, and on the 
left a wide rolling country, with here and there 
broad valleys and the Blue mountains in the distance 
enclosing them. Along this ridge he v.^ould come 



66 

until he would strike the Wissahlckon and between 
its battlements of hills he would pass until he would 
come to the ravine which led up to the house of 
his beloved. 

In the orororc of the Wissahickon he met uidi 
some of the most interesting characters, who dv/elt 
in these deep ravines, in intimate communion v/itli 
their Lord, such men v.-erc John Seelig and Conrad 
Matthias. These men were led by John Kclpius, 
who died a fev.- years before this time, but these 
two were his most faithful followers. Jolm Kel- 
pius. a man of remarkable brilliancy, was a noble 
of an eminent family in Siebenbergen. He was 
learned in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, German and 
English, and reasoned acutely and soberly. He 
died in the year i 708. Then Seelig took his place, 
and to specially distinguish himself wore, as his 
teacher had done, a very coarse garment. But his 
kindly offices were to all the people round-about, 
and many of the oldest deeds of conveyance of that 
neighborhood are in his hand-writing. When he 
died Matthias took his place as the teacher, and 
with him was associated Doctor Christopher W^itt, 
and these, with their companions (there were 
forty-two at first), were called " The Society of the 
Woman of the Wilderness," spoken of In Revelation, 
and they as the beloved of the " Woman of the 
Wilderness" had become hermits, had laid aside 
all other engagements, and by adorning themselves 



67 

with holiness were preparing for her reception, for 
which they looked daily. 

*' They called themselves ' The Society of the 
Woman in the Wilderness,' and Lhey believed in 
the near approach of the millenium. They believed 
that the ' Woman in the Wilderness' mentioned 
in Revelation was prefigurative of the great deliv- 
erence of the church of Christ, then about to be 
displayed ; that, as she was ' to come up from the 
Wilderness, leaning on her beloved,' so the beloved, 
becoming hermits, and laying aside all other engage- 
ments, should prepare for her reception, by adorning 
themselves with holiness ; and should observe the 
signs of the times, if, perad venture, the 'Harbinger' 
might appear. They taught that there was a three- 
fold wilderness state of progression in spiritual 
holiness ; the barren, the fruitful, and the wilderness 
state of the elect of God ; the last of which, the 
highest degree of holiness, was to be obtained by 
dwelling in solitude, in the wilderness. Thus 
Moses acquired his holiness by a preparation of 
forty years in the desert ; and then St, John was 
qualified, and Christ himself was prepared by his 
forty days temptation in the wilderness ; whence it 
was inferred, that holy men might be^_quallfied to 
come forth again, to convert ' whole cities,' and to 
work signs and wonders, With more good sense 
than usually accompanied such vagaries, these holy 
men waited for some satisfactory evidence of their 



68 

apostolic qualifications, which not receivings they 
were content to instruct such only as sought their 
haunts." 

Antes would certainly enjoy meeting these men, 
for they were greatly respected by the people of 
Germantown, and the memory of their learned 
leader was still cherished by the people who had 
been the recipients of his kindness, for, although 
they dwelt in the forests as hermits, they went about 
doing good, and seeking to manifest the spirit of 
Christ. They particularly sought out the sick, and 
helped them with the herbs they so well knew the 
virtue of, and the afflicted they comforted with a 
skill that could only have been obtained through the 
exercise of the most tender sympathies. 

This Doctor Witt wore a special cloak, and car- 
ried a maoficians wand. His skill was said to be 
great, and his peculiar bearing awakened the respect 
of all who w^ere at all affected by superstition. He 
was a magician, and by the stars revealed to his 
visitors their destiny ; he was a conjuror, and relievec 
the disorders and spells of witchcraft ; he was a 
jDhysician, and healed the diseases of the body, and 
as he lived for a centur}^ his great age impressed 
the people with the belief in his special power. 

The nearest mills for grinding flour for the set- 
tlers in Falkner Swamp were located along the 
Wissahickon and for a small orift the Indians of their 

O 

neighborhood would carry on their shoulders the 



69 

grain, and the next day return with the flour. Their 
manner of traveling was in single file, each one 
stepping in the footsteps of their leader. So that 
Henry Antes was not always alone in his journey, 
but with such an escort would speed over the hills 
to the deep vale of the sparkling Wissahickon. 

What a wonderful stream the Wissahickon was, 
as it rolled so tumultuously over its rocky bed, from 
the great Whitemarsh plain to the broad Schuyl- 
kill. Steep were its walls of tree crowned rocks, 
many were its ravines, and at the foot of each ravine 
some enterprising settler built his mill to supply 
the people of the hills above him with the luxuries 
of life. And here as he journeyed the calculating 
eye of the young man saw a way to fortune and 
prosperity. 

When Frederick Antes with his family left Ger- 
mantown, to settle upon the part of the great tract 
which he had purchased in 1723, there were still 
retained ties of a social nature stronger far than 
those which had bound them to the land of their 
ancestors, and the frequent trips taken from the 
forest cabin to the town of their kindred revealed 
to those who dwelt nearer civilization the rapid 
growth of the youth who with a happy heart and 
ardent hope called the forest his home. To Chris- 
tina, the daughter of William Dewees, these visits 
were occasions of great joy, for she had promised 
to share the fortunes of life with the brave and 



70 

noble youth who already was a leader of the 
people. A merry time was planned by the youth 
of Germantown to celebrate their marriage. Al- 
though in the New World, they would retain their 
old customs, and as in the districts of old Germany 
they would here celebrate the marriage, and their 
festivities would make them feel the more as if they 
were indeed at home 

With the question of marriage arose several 
serious considerations. Antes was a thorough 
churchman, and had been well trained in the cus- 
toms and laws of the Reformed Church, and 
although there were many thousands of members 
of that church in the colony, there w^as no ordained 
minister, hence no one duly qualified to administer 
the ordinance of the church. 

What others had done, we do not know, but 
Antes was too good a Christian to adopt the cus- 
toms of the wilderness, and too much of a church- 
man to follow the practices of other religious bodies. 
And yet his big glowing heart would not be satisfied 
without the fair Christina. In his perplexity he 
turned to his friend John Philip Boehm, a man 
several years older than himself, but one filled with 
the spirit of the church. Boehm had served as 
schoolmaster and fore-singer in the city of Worms 
in the Fatherland, and in 1720 had come across 
the sea to settle in this growing colony. Many 



71 

ioinecl with Henry Antes in urging him to assume 
:he labors of a minister until by official authority 
tie could be fully declared to be such by the proper 
course of vows, 

Boehm consented to do so and performed the 
duties of an ordained minister to the satisfaction of 
the members of the three Reformed Churches. 
But in I 727, a regularly ordained minister came and 
showed the irregularity of this step, and the necessity 
of having it made right. They appealed to the 
New York ministers of the Reformed Church, 
who thouoht it so Qrrave a matter that it was 
referred to the Classis of Amsterdam, who upon 
the petition signed by sixteen officers of the three 
churches, in 1729, granted their request, declared 
his acts valid and ordered his ordination. 

A proper minister being thus obtained the usual 
course was followed. Three times in the church 
at Whitemarsh the banns were published, and the 
Tuesday following, February 2d, 1726, was selected 
for the wedding. This was the safe day, it por- 
tended no evil forboding. On that day no shadow 
could rest on the future of the happy couple. It 
was the day free from jealousies and supernatural 
visitations. We have no description of the wed- 
ding. We may suppose it to have been like this. 
One of the Old Country marriage observances 
amongst the better class of people. Early that 



morning while the stars were yet shining-, the active 
paper manufacturer, William Devvees, had his 
dwelling prepared for the coming event. 

The nearest relatives and a few honored guests 
partook of the " Morgensuppe" a meal consisting 
of several dishes of rich viands. As the guests 
came in, the parents of the bride, attired in their 
best clothes, welcomed each one with a hearty 
shake of the hand. Back of them stood the bride 
with her wreath of rosemary already in her hair. 
She, too, welcomed the guests, extending her hand 
to each one, and cheerfully saying to them " Gruss 
Gott" (God greet thee). To this meal the bride- 
groom was not admitted. 

After this meal, when all are ready for the starting, 
the best man delivers a speech in which in the name 
of the bride he thanks the parents for the care, 
tenderness, love and devotion they have given her. 
And then the two bridesmaids fasten around the 
bride's waist the *' Ehrengurtel", — a broad leathern 
girdle plated with silver, and highly ornamented. 
This orirdle meant that the bride had lived a life of 
purity, was free from all reproach and was well 
entitled to wear this " girdle of maiden honor." hi 
carriages or on horseback they were to ride to the 
church, and already at the door the horses were 
waiting. 

The long silky tails and glossy manes of these 
horses had been braided into numberless little plaits 



71 

and adorned with red and blue ribbons. The 
waofons — if such were used — were festooned with 
wreaths of evergreens from along the Wissahickon. 

The friends are ready to give the sending-off 
shouts and all in silence await the last act at the 
house. This was the bride feeding the horses that 
were to take her to church. Laying a slice of bread 
for each horse on a plate, after besprinkling the 
former with salt, she steps up to each animal and 
gives it its share. When she has done this with 
each one, she walks thrice round the carriage, and 
after the third time dashes the plate against the 
right-hand wheel of the vehicle. 

They go first to the house where the bridegroom 
is waiting, here the " best man" lifts . the bride to 
the ground and she enters followed by the party to 
receive their wedding favors, which are a red and 
white ribbon knotted around the right arm, while 
the bridegroom's favors are of violet silk, besides 
which he wears a bunch of rosemary in his hat. 

They now proceed to the church and the cere- 
mony is performed according to the rules of the 
Reformed Church. After this they return to the 
home of the bride and partook of the usual wedding 
dinner — the cabbage dinner — and the company 
merrily feast on cabbage, with all the savory 
accompaniments necessary to make it representa- 
tive of the wealth and liberality of the honorable 
father of the bride. 



74 

How proudly Henry Antes gazed upon Christina 
as she was given to him to love, cherish, and pro- 
tect. And beautiful she was with her bright, shining 
blue eyes, fair skin and flaxen tresses. Her face, 
round and merry, now wreathed in beams of happi- 
ness, for she knew that he in whom she trusted was 
true, and that the smile of their Heavenly Father 
rested upon them. 

Henry was indeed in youth's ruddy morning, 
having only passed his twenty-fifty birthday, and 
was filled with the ambition of youth. 




'IHE WISSAHICKOX. 




CHArTER VII. 

TJie Crcfdd Mill, and the Strange People Who Came to It. 

^ILLIAM DEWEES was undoubtedly a 
man of most active habits, with a public 
spirit that led him far in advance of the 
sober thinking Mennonites who were his 
fellow citizens in Germantown. We have already 
seen him as Constable and Sheriff of the morally 
disposed people, but now we see him in another 
sphere of usefulness. 

In honor of the home across the ocean from 
which he had come, he named his new enterprise 
the Crefeld Mills, for at a favorable spot along the 
Wissahickon he builds a paper and flour mill com- 
bined. We do not know whether this was done 
before the marriage of his daughter to Henry Antes 
or afterward, for Antes was a millwright, and in 
these mills was partner with his father-in-law. 

Here Antes spent the three years following his 
wedding, and no place in all the country districts 
could have afforded better opportunity for him to 
observe the people who were settling in the land. 
From all parts of the settlements the people came 
for their flour, and the learned — and there were 
many of these — for their paper. 



76 

The people of Crefeld who chose the hills above 
the W'issahickon for their settlement were wise In 
their choice, and every available spot along that 
l^owing stream was laid hold of to display the indus- 
try and business tact which they possessed. 

The ver)' wildness of its precipitous, banks, the 
boldness of its rock cliffs and the denseness of its 
forest growth seemed to add to its general attrac- 
tiveness, and the steady constant flov\^ of its waters 
guaranteed a business for ever}' month of the year. 

Down its ravines the Indians had made their 
paths, and these now broadened out into the high- 
ways of travel, not such as to admit the dainty 
carriages of our day, but well suited for the primitive 
mode of travel adopted by the foot rangers of that 
day. 

The ceaseless rubbing of the mill's great hoppers 
kept time with the roar and dash of the busy waters, 
and even the deepening shadows of the early night- 
fall failed to" suppress their energy, and with the 
falling of the night came the accompanying chorus 
of thousands of the creatures of forest, swamp, and 
bush-lined stream. In these hours the thoughtful 
miller would recall the disturbing and oppressive 
burdens of the Fatherland, and thank God for the 
peace of the wilderness. One of the usual scenes 
that graced the valley in front of the mill was a 
file of stalwart Indians in silence swiftly trotting 



77 

along, bearing upon their backs burdens of grain 
from the distant settlements to be exchanged in 
these mills for flour. 

Henry Antes would be glad to see these troops 
for they not only brought business, but also news 
from the many friends in the up country settlements, 
and well too did he know the nature of their jour- 
ney, for had he not many times taken this same 
journey from his father's house to see his beloved 
in Germantown ? 

How silently as the evening began to darken the 
valley, the troop came along, each one stepping in 
the footprints of the leader, not a word spoken by 
any of them, only a guttural grunt now and then 
expressing some conclusion they were welcoming 
in their thoughts. 

On their journeys they were dressed in their 
gayest attire, for they knew they were a constant 
source of wonder and admiration to the Germans. 
On their feet were their soft deerskin moccasins, 
and leggings, all ornamented according to the 
wealth of the wearer. Over their huoe shoulders 
were spread skins of wild animals they had killed, 
that of the bear, or the wolf, while their heads were 
decorated with the long feathers of the wild turkey, 
and now and then, one who had been famous in 
the chase would wear a necklace of bear's claws. 

Their copper-colored faces were daubed with 



7^^ 

paints of gaudy hues, giving them an expression of 
fierceness, such as was now held in reserve, tor 
they were friendly with the whites. 

Occasionally the)- murmured at the greed of some 
settler, or at the encroachment upon their fishing 
grounds, but they sought peace, and the Germans 
did not give to them the dreadful " fire-water" 
which in so many places aroused the children of 
the forests to deeds of cruelty and blood. 

Well they knew the kindly beaming face of the 
young miller, for by their homes he had set his 
traps according to their instructions, and had fished 
in their waters side Ijy side with themselves, and 
had slept in their huts as one of themselves and 
they had trusted him. 

When their burdens had been cast upon the tloor 
of the mill, was measured, and the equivrUent in 
fiour given, they took up their homeward line of 
march, and only stopped to rest for the nig!u when 
they came to their usual camping ground in the 
depths of some thick undergrowth. Then when 
by themselves, their entire manner was a]t(,'r(:d. 
They rapidly talked to each other, smiled and 
joked, and talked of the impression they liacl 
made, and were just as f.-je and easy as even the 
Germans themselves in their own households. The 
silence of the hidians was their manner toward 
strangers, and not their ordinary way of conducting 
themselves. 



79 

But Henry Antes was the happier now, for he 
had received word from them that his father, mother 
and sister were well, and the harvests were abun- 
dant with the settlers. 

Another strange Aveird group of dwellers in the 
up country also occasionally passed down the valley 
to the road winding up through the largest ravine 
to Germantown. These were the Tunkers, who 
in numbers of fifty or sixty visited their friends in 
Germantown. 

They walked along in Indian file in a solemn 
steady pace, keeping straight forward, with their 
eyes fixed to the ground^ not noticing those whom 
they passed or answering any questions that might 
be addressed to them. Their dress consisted of a 
shirt, trowsers, and waistcoat, with a lonof white 
gown and cowl of wool in Winter, and linen in 
Summer. The women in dress differed from the 
men only in wearing petticoats. 

When they went in public they covered their 
faces with the cowls of their gowns. Their faces 
were pale and bloodless, for they lived on vege- 
tables solely, and slept on wooden benches, with 
blocks of wood for pillows. 

The sexes dwelt apart, for marriage was for- 
bidden them, and four times a day they attended 
worship. 

W^illiam Dewees knew their leaders well, for 
when they met with persecution in their own land in 



8o 

the county of Witgenstein, they removed to Crefeld 
in Germany, from whence, under the guidance of 
Alexander Mack, a miller, they came to Pennsyl- 
vania in 1 7 19 and first established themselves in 
Germantown, and then, some as hermits, some in 
communities, dispersed to different parts of the wil- 
derness. 

But Antes well knew that with all the mortifica- 
tion and maceration of the tlesh they practiced, they 
were far from the ideal state of man, for strife and 
contention at times waxed fiercely amongst them. 
With these peculiar people he could find no attrac- 
tive features. They seemed to belong to the gloom 
and shade of life, and seemed to be a part of the 
fleetino: evenine hour. His own nature was all 
sunny and bright, sparkling with the beaut)-' of life 
like the beautiful stream that as a silver thread 
wound down the narrow rugged valley, yet full- of 
power as here and there it lingered a moment to 
set in motion the ereat stones of the various mills. 

There was one spot along the creek to which we 
may suppose the miller often turned his steps. It 
was a huge rock that stood up high above all its 
fellows, and above the tallest trees at its base. Back 
of it stretched the forest along the ridge east of the 
creek, from its flat top die deep valley for some 
distance was in view, while the ridge on the other 
side of the creek was seen stretching away in the 
distance. 



It required expert climbing to reach its summit, 
but when there, all the grandeur and wlldness of 
the WIssahickon lay before him. It is now called 
Indian Rock, for the legend Is that from its lofty top 
Indian chiefs were accustomed to addressinof their 
followers who gathered in groups in the valley and 
under the trees beneath it. 

In such a place as this Antes would be likely to 
meet the hermits, as they loved to seek such places 
to muse upon the coming of the millenial glory of 
their Lord. To a mind like Antes' meeting such 
men In the forest would arouse the greatest curiosity 
to understand their real views and desires, while 
meeting an honest, Intelligent, enquiring man like 
Antes they would unfold their thoughts more freely 
and confidentially than to others. So that we may 
suppose this period of Antes's life was one of deep 
rc.iCCtlon upon the peculiarities of human nature 
and seeing the well-meaning of all these classes, he 
would be cultivating the desire to bring them all 
nearer to each other, so that In faith, hope and love 
they might be one, even as they were one In lan- 
guage. 

No reader of this book should suppose that all 
the Germans were singular people. There were 
many thousands of Germans, there were but a few 
of these strange relioionlsts. But so keen is the 
scent of even historians for the singular and the 
absurd that the)' have overlooked the sturdy, quiet 



thousands to bring out in full particulars the few 
peculiar ones. Many of these peculiar people were 
called " Pietists," they were offshoots of the Pietistic 
movement in Germany. 

Kelpius, Pastorius, Falkner, etc., were such, but 
Antes, Dewees, Boehm and Muhlenbersf were 
church people, and their religious and social customs 
were ordinary and usual. 

These ordinary Germans were our ancestors, let. 
us therefore look at them as beins: of the most 
interest to us, for they became the foundation of 
that part of the State in which they dwelt. 




ClIAPTER VIII. 

Philadelphia in ijjo. The Country M. D. 

^/■^HILE Henry Antes was quietly engaged in 
'•A business on the Wissahickon, the Prov- 
ince was disturbed by several important 
events. 

In June, 1726, Governor Keith reluctantly left 
his place and was succeeded by Patrick Gordon, a 
frank, bluff soldier, who kept the loyal anniversaries 
in a n:nnner quite different from that of the Quakers, 
and the people celebrated them with him ; as, for 
instance, when the birthday of the Prince of Wales 
was made a festival at the Governor's house, with 
drinking of health, salutes of cannon from the 
decorated shipping, illuminating the house, and even 
the giving of a ball, which was said to have been 
the first on record in Philadelphia. 

In 1727 disasters seemed to break upon the 
country in a terrible storm and flood, followed by 
such a raging sickness that the Assembly could not 
meet until the regular time for session had gone by. 

In 1728 there was a terrible stringency in the 
money of the Province, riots took place, and the 
entire Province felt the effects of it, but the authori- 



ties granted an Increase in the currency, and the 
danger was partially averted. 

In 1 730 a great fire on Chestnut street con- 
sumed much valuable property. 

Antes, now well established at Crefeld, seeing 
the opportunities for wealth at the rapidly growing 
settlements, determined to enter again into the 
frontier life, and began preparations to rejoin his 
father in Hanover township. But all v.^as not sun- 
shine, and for a while he dreaded removing his 
wife and three little ones into the dangers of fron- 
tier life. 

The Indians were mostly peaceful. They were 
kindly disposed toward the settlers, but all were 
not saints on either side, and when the bad elements 
began to work, trouble came. 

A settler was killed beyond Cones toga by the 
Pennsylvania Indians. This aroused fear through- 
out the settlements, and the Assembly was called 
on to act in the matter. With firmness and dignity 
the Assembly demanded of the nation and village 
to which the criminal belonged his Immediate arrest, 
and threatened if this was not done, to send a force 
after him, and have him tried by an English jury. 

But the greatest danger was from roving bands 
of non-resident Indians, who in small bands, thor- 
oughly aroused, roved about the settlements, and 
stimulated by drink and cupidity, committed out- 
rages, destroyed property, stealing the valuables of 



8s 

the settlers, and constantly alarming the females. 
This became so objectionable that sometimes the 
bands were driven off by the aroused settlers. 

Just at this time, the whole line of settlements in 
the very part Antes had selected for his habitation, 
was excited over the raid of such a band. The 
settlers were called together and they resisted the 
Indians, a fight ensued and many on both sides were 
injured, and there was deep apprehension as to 
the result. 

But some of the lav/less element took the matter 
in their own hands. They explored the forests, 
and coming upon a party of Indians, Inhumanly put 
them to death, and after the deed was committed, 
discovered that their victims were not of the 
maurauding party, but belonged to a friendly prov- 
incial tribe. 

Now indeed there was ground for apprehension, 
and if the tribes resented this cruel action, death 
and desolation would speedily devour every frontier 
settlement- 
No time was to be lost. The Governor was 
informed of it, in person he at once proceeded to 
the spot of the massacre, and there with all the 
authority of his office commanded the arrest of the 
murderers, of whom only one escaped. 

Still, this did not avert the danger, the chiefs to 
whom the deceased were related were not recon- 
ciled, and it was necessary- to call a council, and to 



86 

secure the arbitration of the chiefs of the Five 
Nations. Many presents were given, a new treaty 
was entered into, and the death of each hidian cost 
the Province a hundred pounds of lawful money. 

But peace was again established, and Antes could 
remove to the settlement with the feeling that there 
was greater security than before the sad tragedy 
was enacted. 

The settlements quieted down, the swing of the 
ax once more demanded the laying aside of the 
musket, and the vv^omen went at their work un- 
alarmed by the painted face of a savage foe. 

Before leaving Crefeld, Henry Antes availed 
himself of a privilege which enabled him to be much 
more useful in life than he could have been if he 
had neglected it, that was, to become a naturalized 
citizen of the Kingdom of Great Britain, and a 
subject of George II. 

For the possession of rights and privileges this 
seemed essential, and although it was rather radical 
for a German, yet he took the step. 

For this purpose he came down to the city of 
Philadelphia and appeared before the House of 
Assembly, and there presented his request^ and by 
their formal act was naturalized, and endowed with 
all the rights before the law, of a citizen. 

A trip to Philadelphia at this time was an inter- 
estino: event. The streets had been laid out in 



87 

squares, the principal streets at right angles with 
the Delaware River extending to the Schuylkill. 

The population of the city had grown with 
amazing rapidity, and the spirit of progress was 
seen on every hand. Benjamin Franklin had just 
returned from England and was about establishing 
a newspaper called the Pennsylvania Gazette, and 
was also making preparations to establish a public 
library, which he succeeded in doing within a couple 
of years. Although only about twenty-four years 
of age, he was rapidly growing into prominence. 

Antes must have been interested in the building 
of the State House, which had now been in progress 
for about a year. As a mechanic nothing in the 
city could interest him more. It was to be a great 
structure, and the pride of the people led them to 
watch its progress and boast of its magnificence. 
But as Antes and the people looked upon its walls, 
as they were being so carefully built, they did not 
imagine that in forty-six years from that time, within 
those walls, a paper would be signed by the repre- 
sentatives of the people, which should be the 
greatest declaration of independence the world 
ever knew, and from that event, the building should 
be known all over the world as Independence Hall. 
• And little did Henry Antes imagine that in forty- 
six years from the time he saw the State House being 
erected, that ;'.v; result of the Declaration of Inde- 



88 

pendence within its walls by the representatives o!' 
every colony of Great Britain in America, would 
lay the foundation for the grandest of civil govern- 
ments, and that in the same year and immediately 
following that declaration in that same building, a 
convention would meet and draft a constitution for 
the State of Pennsylvania, and that the young man 
Benjamin Franklin would be the president of that 
convention, and Henry Antes' own first-born son, 
now a little babe of only a few weeks in age, would 
then be known as Colonel Frederick Antes and as 
a member from the county of Philadelphia sit with 
that convention, and vote for the law tliat no treaty 
should be made with Great Britain until she should 
acknowledge the United States shoukl be free 
and independent, to treat with her in conjunction 
with the other states concerning peace, amity, and 
commerce, on just and equal terms. 

Having sufficiently observed the workmen, we 
wi'i imagine Henry Antes sauntering down to 
Front street, past the mansion of Governor Patrick 
Gordon, and entering the London Coftee House to 
refresh himself with dinner. This hotel was the 
great resort of strangers, and here the events from 
all parts of the world were first known in the Prov- 
ince, and here German, pjiglishman. Scotchman, 
and Quaker sat down to dinner together. The 
Quakers were the most attractive to Henry Antes, 



09 

for they were the followers of the great proprietary, 
and at all times endeavored to carry out the princi- 
ples of their chief They were very conservative, 
and although the following decades presented new 
phases of social and political life, their principles 
remained the same, as did also their peculiarities 
and customs. They were specially noticeable 
because of their style of dress, which they called 
plain. They wore clothes of a drab color, or black. 
High-crowned, broad-brimmed hats be-decked their 
heads. They always appeared clean shaven, and 
avoided all jewelry. Their faces generally wore a 
peaceful expression, and their style of speech was 
of great tenderness. They sought the most con- 
servative way of expressing themselves, and were 
careful to speak only after due meditation. In 
avoiding the pleasures ofthe world, they also avoided 
its excesses, and their lives were remarkable for 
simplicity. They were particularly interested in 
all things pertaining to the moral elevation, ot their 
fellow men, and they bore earnest testimony against 
all the vices that afflicted their fellow nien. I'hey 
were faithful in all their engagements, and the 
Indians never had trouble of any kind with them, 
and any one traveling anywhere in the forests, 
wearing the Quaker costume, would find protection, 
relief, and friendship in any Indian's wigwam. In 
the government of Pennsylvania they had great 



9^ 

influence, though as emiirrants of a different belief 
came in, they gradually lost their preponderating 
power. 

Henry Antes, sitting by the window of the Lon- 
don Coffee House, gazed ov^er the river and along 
the principal street of the city. On every hand he 
beheld the Quakers, and in the peace and freedom 
of the Pr'^yince beheld the ehects of their endeavors. 
How could he tee) otherwise than pleased with their 
spirit and influence. As by his dress and manners 
they recognized one of the Germans from the town 
upon the neighboring hill, they treated him kind!)-, 
and spoke pleasant words to him. The Quakers 
respected these German neighbors, for the)- knev^ 
they were men of earnest hearts and pure inten- 
tions. They were seeking liberty of conscience and 
of worship, hence they were brothers. Strange 
was the speech of the one to the other, but not so 
the smile, the clasp of the hand, and the tone of 
the voice. 

In strange contrast with the calm, mild mannered 
Quakers were the fierce eyed Welsh, the bois- 
terous English, the aggressive Scotch-Irish, and the 
negro — for there were several of these in the Prov- 
ince, and the contrast was exhibited in its most 
strangel)' markc'd features at the water's edge just 
below the Coffee House, as the small boats brought 
to the shore the emigrants froni the ship that had 
'ust arrived. How careful the Quakers were to 



9-" 

settler also purchased a tract to settle upon and 
farm. But now, he makes the acquaintance of 
another, who in his community was destined to 
exert considerable influence. This was John Miller, 
doctor of medicine. 

In those early days the physician was one of the 
busiest of men. He, like the others, purchased a 
part of the wilderness, to clear and farm, and at 
the same time attend to the wants of the people 
stricken by disease. There were few professional 
men in those days. Men of culture were not accus- 
tomed to brave the perils and fatigues of frontier 
life. The study of books was denied them, and 
they could grow only as the wilderness gave them 
inspiring influences. But these young men, having 
a desire for learning, boldly determined to develop 
it though in the face of manifold hindrances, and this 
they did as the years fled by. The diseases of the 
settlers were of few types, and these recurred as 
regularly as the seasons. The cold winds of Winter 
brought their pneumonias, the Hoods of Spring their 
forms of malaria, the heat of Summer and the 
decay of Autumn their fevers, each one with its 
hopes brought fears, with its blessings, also its woes. 
The principles of medicine were few and simple. 
The lance was carried for blood letting, calomel 
for malaria, and specifics of great, long hard names 
which when merely pronounced to the wondering 
people quieted them into profound awe. Where 



the opportunities for getting the great medicines 
became Hmited, the practical physician turned to 
his botany and gathered the herbs that grew along 
every stream, and with teas made of these brought 
the sick back into health. 

The physician's circuit was many miles in diame- 
ter, and often he would be away from home for 
days on his trip. Sometimes fording streams 
swollen with repeated rains, sometimes following 
an Indian path for miles through a dense forest, 
sometimes climbing up mountains so steep that he 
would be compelled to dismount and lead his horse 
over the dangers on every hand. Now it would 
be the fever whose wasting he must check ; now, it 
was consumption that had laid hold of the life of 
its victim ; now, it was some poor fellow who in 
clearing his land had been struck by a limb of a 
fallen tree and had been crushed ; now, it was the 
little child too delicate to endure the life of hardshi[) 
in the comfortless cabin wasting away. To all such 
the good doctor speedily hurried, and as the min- 
ister far away could not come in time, some devout 
man among the settlers would take his place and 
administer the consolations of religion. 

This labor of love Henry Antes delighted in 
doing, for at this time the doctor was not a member 
of the church, though afterward he became one of 
its elders. What journeys these occasions called 
forth ! The whole community felt the power of 



94 

their kind deeds ! And how this developed char- 
acter ! We can see diem as they entered into the 
borders of the Indian's haunts, going to the remote 
settlements, carrying blessings and good cheer to 
all. The Indians wondered at the medicine man 
and lield him in great awe, and to him revealed 
the marvelous virtues of the plants whose rarity 
was so marked that uninformed the white man 
would not have found them. And now we can also 
see Antes learning the ways of the Indians, studying 
nature in all her forms, learning the highways 
in the wilderness, and locatincr the various tracts 
already in the market held for sale and of them all 
carefully searched for the best spot, to purchase for 
his own home. Dr. John Miller established him- 
self on the public road, and his home became a 
beacon to the traveler. Every one was supposed 
to know where he dwelt, and the nearest path to.it 
and hence it was the sign to the traveler3 as to 
their road through the land. 




THE FIRST MORAVIAN CHURCH IN PHILADELPHIA. 



Chapter IX. 
TJie Unitas Fratnnn. 

ifiJ^^jiKpHE Unitas Fratrum, or The Church of the 
United Brethren, originated not only in 
Moravia but also in Bohemia. The blood 
'^G'g)>' Qf t;|-ie martyr John Huss was its seed. It 
was founded by some of his followers in 1457 on 
the Barony of Lititz, in Bohemia. The basis of 
their union was the following three principles : The 
Bible is the only source of christian doctrine ; .. public 
worship is to be conducted in accordance with the 
teaching of the Scriptures and on the model of the 
Apostolic Church ; the Lord's Supper is to be 
received in faith, to be doctrinally defined in the 
language of the Bible, and every human explanation 
of that lanoruaQfe to be avoided. 

Lititz soon became the rallying point for awak- 
ened persons throughout Bohemia and Moravia, so 
that the new church rapidly increased. Its first 
ministers were priests of the Calixtine or National 
Church, from which the brethren had seceded. 
In 1467, however, they introduced a ministry of 
their own, and secured the episcopacy from Bishop 
Stephen of the Austrian Waldenses. In spite of 

95 



96 

frequent persecutions a.t the hands both of the 
Roman Catholics and of the National Church, they 
increased in numbers and influence. 

At the beginning of Luther's Reformation in 
1518 they had about 200,000 members and over 
400 parishes. In the course of time they established 
colleges and theological seminaries, set up several 
printing presses, and translated the entire Bible 
from the original into the Bohemian tongue, which 
version has remained a standard to the present day. 
About 1547 they spread to Poland; and in 1557 
the Unitas Fratruni was divided into three ecclesi- 
astical provinces — the Bohemian, Moravian and 
Polish, each governed by Bishops of its own, but 
all united as one church. 

Religious liberty having been proclaimed in 
Bohemia and Moravia in 1 609, the Brethren became 
one of the legally acknowledged churches of these 
lands. In the early part of the Thirty Years' War, 
however, Perdinand II, inaugurated the so-called 
Anti-Reformation, which crushed evanizelical reliu- 
ion out of Bohemia and Moravia. Only a hidden 
seed of the Church of the Brethren remained. The 
majority of its members, together with the Luther- 
ans and the Reformed, were driven into exile 
(1627). A new centre was now established at 
Lissa in Poland, and many parishes of refugees were 
X)rmed. But Lissa was destroyed in 1 659, in a war 
:)etween Poland and Sweden, and the remaining 



97 

parishes were gradually absorbed by other Protes- 
tant bodies. 

For more than half a century the Unitas Fm- 
trum ceased to exist as a visible organization. Its 
hidden seed in Bohemia and Moravia, however, 
remained, and its illustrious bishop, Amos Comenius, 
filled with a prophetical anticipation of its renewal, 
republished its history, confession and discipline, 
commended the future Church of the Brethren to 
the care of the Church of England, and took steps 
to perpetuate its episcopacy. Hence, for a period 
of fifty years, clergymen of the Reformed Church 
were consecrated bishops of the Unitas Fratnim, 
that the succession might not die out. On June 
1 7th, 1 722, a few descendents of the Brethren, who 
had iied from their native land to Saxony, began to 
build the towii of Herrnhut on an estate of Count 
Zinzendorf, where an asylum had been provided for 
them. This town soon became the rallying place 
for the remnant of the Church, descendents of 
which, to the number of several hundred, immi- 
grated thither from Bohemia and Moravia. They 
introduced their ancient discipline, handed down by 
Comenius, and in 1735 received their venerable 
episcopate at the hands of its two last survivors, 
Daniel Ernst Jablonsky, and Christian Sitkovins. 
At the same time, however, many christians from 
different parts of Germany joined them, so that the 
reiK'wal of their Church involved a union of the 



9J< 

German element of pietism with the Slavonic ele- 
ment which they represented. The result was a 
development different from that in Bohemia and 
Moravia. Count Zinzendorf himself becanie the 
leading bishop of the resuscitated Church, and he 
strove to build it up in such a way as not to interfere 
with the rights and privileges of the State Churcli, 
in the communion of which he had been born, and 
to which he was sincerely attached. In carrying 
out this principle he did not let the renewed Uni/as 
Fratnmi expand as other churches expand, but 
established on the continent of Europe, in Great 
Britain, and in America, exclusively Moravian 
settlements, from which the follies and temiptations 
of the world were excluded, and in which was fos- 
tered the highest type of spiritual life." [Bishop E. 
de Schweinitz.] 

Thus in the year 1732 their foreign missionary 
w()rk began. 

Count Zinzendorf also received on his estate 
other devout refugees with whom the Lhiitas Fra- 
t7'wn maintained the most cordial friendship, among 
these were the Schwenkfelders, named after their 
great leader Caspar Schwcnkfeld, of Ossing, who 
was a distinguished teacher at the time of the refor- 
mation in the Sixteenth century. His words were 
of the pure essence of the gospel, mild, tender, and 
charitable. He appealed to the better instincts ot 
the heart, and sought to instil into the minds of his 



99 

followers the spiritual walk of Jesus. For nearly 
two hundred years his followers were tolerated by 
the German Emperors in Silesia, but in 1 590 and 
1650 the stroke of persecution fell heavily upon 
them, and forced to tiee they sought protection in 
Upper Lusatia, in Saxony, under the power of the 
senate of Gorlitz, and also of Count Zinzendorf ; 
once more forced to flee, they turned their faces 
toward Pennsylvania. There were not very many 
of them, but they were distinguished by their indus- 
try, frugality, and strict morality, and so greatly 
were they valued because of these characteristics 
that in 1742 Frederick of Prussia by special procla- 
mation, invited them to return to their former homes 
in Silesia. 

In looking toward America they nrst thought of 
settling in Georgia, when they decided upon Penn- 
sylvania, the lands offered them in Georgia were 
offered to the Moravians, who accepted the same, 
and a colony of Moravians in charge of Spangen- 
berg went to Georgia and founded a settlement on 
the Ogeeche River. This was followed by another 
colony under Bishop David Nitschman as a prepar- 
atory step to a mission among the Creek and 
Cherokee Indians. Upon the vessel that carried 
these latter Brethren were General Oglethorpe, 
John and Charles Wesley, Benjamin Ingram, and 
Charles Delamotte. 

In the year preceding the sending out of these 



TOO 



Moravian colonies, the Schwenkfelders (1734) 
arrived in Philadelphia, and had widi them as their 
spiritual shepherd George Boenisch, a Moravian, 
the first Moravian that came into Pennsylvania. 
After they had been in the colony a year and a 
quarter George Weiss, one of the Schwenkfelders, 
was regularly chosen as their spiritual adviser and 
catechist. This colony was directed to Shippack, 
halfway between Germantown and the frontier, 
George Boenish remaining w- ith them for two years, 
dwelling with Christopher Weigner on the latter's 
farm. The Schwenkfelders found cordial greeting 
in Pennsylvania, for, like the Quakers, they were 
sternly opposed to war, refused to use oaths even 
in courts of justice, refrained from the use of the 
sacraments in their religious worship, and in all 
things sought to possess and manifest the spirit ot 
God. 

At this time Henry Antes was in the high tide 
of business prosperity. He was part owner of the 
Crefeld Mills, he also owned a plantation in Han- 
over township, and he was thoroughly interested in 
securing for the emigrants who were now coming 
in rapidly, good settlements, at the same time with 
enthusiastic religious fervor he sought to develop 
amongst them meetings for praising God. His 
custom was to call the people together in their 
houses for singing, prayer, reading the Scriptures, 
and exhortation. He found ito difficulty in affili- 



lOI 



ating with the Schwenkfelders, and as his associa- 
tions became the more intimate with them, there 
were formed many of the sweetest and most 
enduring friendships of his Hfe. Christopher Weig- 
ner's farm became the focal point of the Moravian 
colonists, and upon it the spirit of God rested as in 
olden times it rested upon the house of Obed Edom, 
because the ark of God was there. 

The time had now come for Henry Antes to 
select the place to establish his home. He was in 
the vigor of manhood, thirty-four years of age, 
strong, large, and capable of much work. A mill- 
wright by trade, a statesman by nature, the friend 
of all. He was the father of five children, and the 
duty was impressed on him to look closely after 
their advantages. Thoroughly acquainted with the 
country, and with a capital sufficient to enable him 
to make his choice, he selected a spot as beautiful 
and advantageous as could be found. The record 
is " On the second day of September, 1735, Henry 
Antes of Frederick township, millwright, bought of 
John Hagerman one hundred and seventy-five acres 
of land near the branches of the Perkeaniing, in 
Frederick township, paying therefore ^200 lawful 
money of the Province." 

Throughout the settlement, each family endeav- 
ored to do its own work so far as possible, hence 
the houses of the people were ordinary log huts, 
but now and then, some one with more capital 



102 



would build after the style of the Fatherland. It 
was a house of this description that Henry Antes 
erected. The lower story was built of stone, the 
second story of logs, and this was surmounted by a 
roomy attic beneath a steep roof, hi front of the 
house on the second story, level with the floor, was 
a spacious porch, and from this porch could be seen 
the magnificent valley below them with the smoke 
curling up in the evenings from neighboring habita- 
tions, the far off mountain range bordering the 
valley, and setting it in a frame of shadowing blue. 
Since the scenes of ones early life so greatly affect 
the tone of the mind, the wise builder, by placing 
his dwelling on this magnificent hill side, conferred 
a lasting benefit on his children, and the breadth, 
vigor and beauty of their lifes manifested the results 
of such influences. 

At about the same time Henry Antes entered 
into partnership with one of the Schwenkfelders, 
George Hubner, and built a grist mill on the 
banks of the adjacent creek, and there purchased 
twenty-eight acres of land adjacent for a better 
accommodation of their mill. They continued this 
partnership for nearly twelve years, and then with 
mutual satisfaction divided their property. This 
was the first mill of this kind in the settlement, as 
previous to this all their grain was carried to the 
mills on the Wissahickon and there exchanged for 
flour. Antes now supplied the great need, and 



103 

placed in the mill two pair of stones, under the one 
roof. When the dissolution of partnership came 
in 1 747, Antes retained the mill, giving Hubner 
/150 Pennsylvania money and the twenty-eight 
acres as his share. This article was signed by two 
faithful men in German. Their names were Abra- 
ham Heiderick, the Schwenkfelder, and Adolph 
Me)er, the Moravian, the latter a " Practitioner in 
Ph)sick." 



Chapter X. 

Contemporary Events. German Settlers' Troubles, Crc. 

N 1732 the smallpox broke out in Philadelp! ia 
and was attended with great fatality. It was 
difficult to keep even the Assembly in session. 
During this time Thomas Penn, one of tlie 
sons of the Proprietary, came to Philadelphia, and 
was received with great pomp and st)le. The 
Assembly gave him a banquet ; the chiefs of the Five 
Nations — then visiting Philadelphia — a pow-wow; 
the fire engines played for him ; the freeholders 
feasted him, and the church wardens and vestry 
gave him a notable dinner at David E\-ans' Crown 
Tavern. The Winter of this year was uncommonly 
severe, the ice on the Schuylkill being fifteen inches 
thick, and in the breaking up in Spring there was 
great damage done, on the W'issahickon as also on 
the Schuylkill. 

•^" ^IZZ John Penn, the oldest living son of 
William Penn, visited the Province and was received 
in the most elaborate manner, the people turning 
out en masse to see the sight. The news of what 
was to be expected had circulated all through the 
Province. " There was a cavalcade and coach 
parade, flags flying, and guns firing on Society Hill 

and from the ships in the river." There were 

104 



105 

addresses, banquets, and salutes in abundance. 
While at the height Michael Welfare, one of the 
Conestoga hermits, appeared in his linen pilgrim's 
garb, with his tall staff and long venerable beard, 
standing in the market-place, announcing the judg- 
ments of an offended Deity against the iniquitous 
place. For a quarter of an hour he railed at the 
crowd and then returned to his Patmos above the 
Wis.sahickon." 

" In 1 736 there was a great treaty made with tiu- 
chiefs of the Six Nations. The council was held in 
the Quaker Meetinp--house, corner of Second and 
Market streets, in September and October, under 
the appropriate auspices of James Logan. One 
hundred of the chiefs were present, and Logan 
entertained them for three days at Stenton before 
the council. At the Meetincr-house the chiefs sat 
in the body of the house, the galleries crowded with 
spectators. The Seneca chief Kanickhungo, was 
the principal speaker, and the subject of the confer- 
ence was the continuance of peace and friendship. 
Ivlany presents were exchanged, and the conference 
gathered solemnity from the certainty in the minds 
of all that an Indian war was not far distant." Such 
an event would certainly be known to all the Indians 
of the Province, and be looked to with the most 
intense interest, and to the settlers also, particularly 
tl'c Germans who were so rapidly seeking the 
frontier. 



io6 

During this period, Antes, as a leading man, was 
deeply interested in the treatment of the Germans 
along the Susquehanna, and the borders of Mary- 
land. The uncertainty of the State boundaries 
increased the trouble. " Many of t'ne Palatines had 
settled west of the Susquehanna (York Co.) under 
Pennsylvania titles, but in order to avoid the [pay- 
ment of taxes imposed by the Province, they 
accepted titles from Maryland, and attorned to Lord 
Baltimore; but becoming satisfied that adhesion to 
him might ultimately prejudice their interests. the\- 
formally renounced their allegiance, and soui^ht 
protection from Pennsylvania. This tergiversation 
irritated the Maryland authorities, and the Sheriff 
of Baltimore County with three hundred men 
marched to eject the Palatines from their posses- 
sions." This led to many contests, some lives were 
lost, the border was made unsafe, the Germans were 
harassed perpetually, and many driven from their 
farms. This continued until August 1737 when the 
order was promulgated " requiring the governors 
of the respective provinces effectually to check the 
disturbances on the borders, and to refrain from 
granting lands in dispute, even in the territories, 
until the king's pleasure should be further known. 
Another trouble at this time were the claims of 
the settlers for their lands. " The proprietary land 
office had been closed from the )'ear 1 7 1 8 to the 



lo; 



vear 1732, during the minorities of Richard and 
Thomas Penn ; and warrants and patents, the usual 
muniments of title, were not issued by the commis- 
sioners of property, but tickets signed by one of the 
commissioners, or by the secretary of the land office 
were substituted. Immigrants seated themselves 
without title, and in many instances without a ticket, 
upon such vacant lands as they found convenient. 
The number of settlers of this kind entitled them to 
great consideration. Their rights, accruing by 
priority of settlement, were recognized by the public 
and passed with their improvements, through many 
hands, in confidence, that they would receive the 
proprietary sanction. And the practice of the land 
office, when opened, giving preference to actual 
settlers, confirmed this expectation. Great agitation 
was therefore produced by a proprietary proclama- 
tion of November, 1738, requiring this class of 
settlers, and those who had obtained warrants, but 
had not paid for them, before the first of March 
next ensuing, to pay to the receiver-general the 
sums due for their lands under the penalty of eject- 
ment." This caused considerable anxiety among 
the settlers, threats were made, but as the authorities 
were not able to carry them out, many compromises 
were made. These things give us a picture of 
border worriments. the subject ( f conversation at 
their firesides, the easier search for information as 



loS 

to the course ot events Irom such men as Antes. 
and the incentives to frequent trips from the settle- 
ments into the city. It also shows ris how a certain 
degree of mistrust grew up between the Germans 
and the English, which was deepened by their 
ignorance of each others language and laws. As 
an adviser to the ignorant settlers Henry Antes 
rendered incalculable benefit^ for they trusted his 
intecrritv and iud^ment. 




Chapter XI, 

Spaugenbcrg and WJiitefield. 

;EORGE BOENISCH was a faithful pio- 
neer of the Moravian faith, and his 
influence was felt throughout the new 
settlement, but the time had now come 
for one of the leaders of the Unitas Fratviim to 
enter and reap the harvest. Accordingly in March, 
T736, Bishop Spangenberg was instructed to leave 
the work in Georgia, and proceed to the settlement 
in Pennsylvania, and there take charge of the work 
begun by Boenisch. Spangenberg spent three 
months at St. Thomas, and four months in Georgia, 
and then proceeded to Pennsylvania. 

About the time of the Bishop's coming. Antes 
recorded in his family Bible " 5th October, 1736, 
a son was born to me this morning at three o'clock. 
I named him John Henry ! The Saviour preserve 
him to eternal life. He was baptised by John 
Philip Boehm. I myself stood as sponsor at the 
baptism." 

Bishop Spangenberg labored with these people 
until recalled to Europe in 1739. He was the 
right man to build up the cause he had at heart. 
Fitted by nature, education, and a peculiarly winning 



no 

grace to draw out and deepen the spirituality of 
those with whom he associated. His age was about 
the same as that of Antes, — only a couple of years 
past thirty. He was just in his prime, with all the 
enthusiasm of a brave young man. When only 
twenty-two years of age he graduated at jena 
and at twenty-seven became professor at the Uni- 
versity of Halle, and assistant superintendent of 
Franke's Orphan House, but, two years later, in 
1733, because of his too liberal views on church 
fellowship, he was dismissed, and he then Joined 
the Moravians. Count Zinzendorf appreciating his 
gifts and graces appointed him as his assistant, sent 
him to Georgia to locate the Moravian settlenient 
there, and thence to proceed to Pennsylvania to do 
missionary work among the settlers. His spirit is 
well shown in a story of one of his experiences in 
the wilderness when visitino^ the Onondaga Indians 
in company with David Zeisberger the great Indian 
missionary, " One day, all means of subsistence in 
the forests failed the pilgrims. They were exhausted 
by hunger and fatigue. Spangenberg turned to 
Zeisberger, and said affectionately, ' My dear David, 
get your fishing tackle ready, and catch us a mess 
of fish.' The other declined, since there could be 
no fish in such clear water, especially at that time of 
year. Spangenberg said, ' Inasmuch as I ask it, my 
dear David, fish! Do it this once, if only out of 
obedience.' * Well, I will do it,' he said, but thought 



Ill 



in his heart, ' The dear brother knows just nothing 
about fish ; and, indeed, it is out of his Hne of busi- 
ness.' But when he cast his net, how was he 
surprised at once to find it full of a multitude of 
great fishes ! The hungry men not only supplied 
their hunger, but by drying the rest at the fire made 
quite a provision for their further journey. ' Did 1 
not say to thee,' Spangenberg asked with a smile 
' that we have a good Heavenly Father ?' " 

With that same faith in success and dependence 
on God, Spangenberg enters upon his work with 
the Schwenkfelders. Those who attended the 
meetings, which were now held regularly on Sun- 
days at the house of Christopher Weigner, formed 
an association which they called " The Associated 
Brethren of Skippack," among whom are mentioned 
Henry Frey, John Kooker, George Meckel, Chris- 
tian Weber, John Bonn, Jacob Wenzen, Jost 
Schmidt, William Bossen, and Jost Becker, of Skip- 
pack ; Henry Antes, William Frey, George Stiefel, 
Henr)^ Holstein, and Andrew Frey, of Frederick ; 
Matthias Gehmelen, and Abraham W^agner, of IMat- 
etsche ; John Bertolet, Francis Ritter, and William 
Pott, of Oley; John Bechtel, John A. Gruber, 
Blasius Mackinet, and George Bensel, of German- 
town. In addition to their weekly meetings, 
monthly conferences were held in which the religi- 
ous condition of the Germans in the Province was 
discussed, and certain members appointed to special 



112 

fields for labor. Bishop Spangenberg and Weigner 
were selected for Skippack ; John Bechtel and 
John A. Gruber, for Germantown, and Henry 
Antes, Andrew Frey and George Stiefel for Fred- 
erick. These conferences continued until i /zpo. 

It was during this period of earnest religious 
work that death entered into Antes' household, and 
took on June 6th, 1739, their nine-month' s-old baby 
Jacob. The first grave they made in the wilderness 
was that of their youngest. 

During this same period, in 1738, when the influ- 
ence of Spangenberg was arousing all the ardor of 
these religious people, Gruber issued an address 
in which he suggested a union of the various sects 
among the Germans of Pennsylvania. One writer 
described that time as being " a complete Babel of 
sects." 

As there were between thirty and forty thousand 
Germans in the colony, and immigration was con- 
tinuing multitudinously, the desire for union was in 
the truest sense devout and patriotic. This idea 
took firm possession of Antes' mind, and became the 
aim of his life. Rev. John Bechtel afterward wrote 
of this period "The Sainted Brother Antes, Stiefel, 
Adam (jruber, myself and others from German- 
town, enjoyed many blessed hours together." And 
who can doubt but that much of their enjoymemt 
came from the exquisite delight in this aim, an aim 
which to-day urges the greatest of the world's 



113 

Evangelists on in their work, and has caused the 
production of a blessed literature from the pens oi 
such men as Dwight Moody, Bishop Coxe, Wash- 
ington Gladden, A. J. Gordon and others. But ol 
all those who in that early day aimed at this noble 
unity, Henry Antes was the most ardent, consistent 
and persistent, and when failure came down upon 
it with its mountain bulk and weight of prejudice. 
Antes felt that there was no more for him to dc 
amongst his fellows, and yielded his spirit to the 
sovereign of all. 

This noble endeavor was not to proceed in the 
peaceful spirit its advocates hoped, for, although it dis- 
claimed any interference with the ecclesiastical ties 
of its advocates, It awakened suspicion and antago- 
nism of a very unpleasant character, and this Antes 
felt severely. Up to the beginning of the year 
I 740 he continued his membership in the Falkner 
Swamp Reformed Church, of which Rev. John 
Philip Boehm was the pastor. But as the religious 
u'ork grew under the labors of these laymen, the 
inlluence of the church seemed to be lost upon 
them, and many times Antes and his pastor had 
unpleasant meetings with each other, until at length 
there was a rupture of pastoral and social relations 
between them. About this time, on March 13th, 
I 74.0, another son was added to Antes' household. 
He named him John, and recorded the prayer " that 
' Lhe Dear Savior preserve him to eternal life." This 



114 

son became a great Moravian missionary, and lived 
a truly consecrated life. Boehm was no longer his 
beloved pastor, and his now nearer and dearer 
friend Bishop Spangenberg baptized the child. But 
a friendship of twenty )ears' standing cannot be 
severed without deep sorrow, particularly by sb 
large-hearted a man as Henry Antes. 

Bishop Spangenberg" now returned to Europe, 
and his place was taken by Andrew Eschenbach, 
from Naumberg, who was sent by the oMoravian 
Church to America to continue the work, and to 
look after the spiritual welfare of the German immi- 
grants scattered throusfhout the four counties of the 
Province. This noble man sought his \v'ork as soon 
as the ship arrived in Philadelphia and at once 
coming to the populous district of Oley — where 
Antes had been teaching since 1736 — made this 
the central point of his gospel ministry, and for 
more than two years labored with untiring industry-, 
persuasive eloquence, and decided success. 

This same year the Moravians were reinforced 
by the arri\al of those who had perilousl}- gone to 
Geortria to establish a settlement there. The stor\ 
of the settlement of Georgia is of thrilling interest. 
The hopes of the few Moravians who accompanied 
Bishop Spangenberg there in 1735 seemed to be 
well founded, but, unfortunately the Spaniards 
possessed P"lorida. The boundaries of the States 
was a question in dispute, which could only be 



115 

settled by war, and when this came the Moravians 
saw the hopelessness of their cause, and during the 
year 1 740 abandoned their undertaking and sailed to 
Pennsylvania. Homes and employment were given 
to many of them in Germantown, while the others 
found hearty welcome, and watch-care at Christo- 
pher Weigner's. 

During this year another event occurred which 
was a strong- link in the chain of events mouldinof 
the life of Antes. That was the visit of George 
Whitefield to Pennsylvania. Mr. William Seward, 
who accompanied him, makes the follow entry in 
his diary, "April 24th, 1740, Came to Christopher 
Weigner's plantation in Skippack, where many 
Dutch people are settled, and where the famous 
Mr. Spangenberg resided lately. It was surprising 
to see such a multitude of people gathered together 
in such a wilderness country thirty miles from 
Philadelphia. * * Our dear friend Peter 
Bohler preached in Dutch, to those who could 
not understand our Brother Whitefield in Eng- 
lish. — Came to Henr}' Antes' plantation in PVed- 
erick township, ten miles further in the country, 
where was also a multitude equally surprising with 
that we had in the morning. * * There 
was much melting under both sermons. * * 

At night I was drawn to sing and pray with our 
brethren in the fields. Brother Wliitefield was very 
weak in body, but the Lord Jehovah was his 



ii6 

strength * * for I never heard him speak 
more clear and powerful. They were German 
where we dined and supp'd, and they play'd and 
sung in Dutch, as we did in English, before and 
after eating. April 25th, rose at three o'clock, and 
rode near fifty miles to Amwell." 

What a wonderful scene that was, when White- 
field stood on Antes' porch and preached to an 
audience of two thousand people, the religious 
settlers of the wilderness. No wonder that he 
preached with unwonted power and enthusiasm, 
for this great German audience first made the land 
ring with the melody of their hymns. The)' were 
used to singing in the open air and all sung, and 
such a scene, in which there was an entire absence 
of affectation, and the presence of the spirit in 
power, seldom greeted the great preacher. It was 
in Spring. The electric power of such harmony 
quickly leaped from soul to soul ! Whitefield was 
in his prime. He was only twenty-six years of age, 
and had been preaching four years, being every- 
where greeted by immense throngs of people who 
readily yielded to his overwhelming influence. 
Even the people whom the great Wesley failed to 
stir could not resist the power of Whitefield. On 
the vessel that brought him to America the sailors 
had been persuaded that he was an impostor, but 
he won them by his magic eloquence, and twice a 
day expounded to them the Scriptures. He was 



117 

antagonized by the regular ministry, for his ways 
were not the stereotyped ways of the schools. 
Although an Oxfordian, his learning was not great, 
but he had the peculiar gift of saying just the 
thing that would touch the hearts of the people. 

With a thoroughly generous spirit, he felt the 
needs of orphans, and in connection with his 
preaching collected money to establish an orphan 
asylum in Georgia, and also seeing the need of 
the colored people, desired to establish a school 
for their education. His coming to Pennsylvania 
caused the most intense feeling amongst friends 
and foes. Gordon in his history of Pennsylvania 
says : — " The year 1 740 is remarkable in the annals 
of Pennsylvania for the labors of the celebrated, 
enthusiastic, itinerant Whitefield. He landed at 
Lewistown in November, 1 739, and soon after 
came to Philadelphia. His arrival disturbed the 
religious harmony which had prevailed since the 
time of Keith. He drew to himself many followers 
from all denominations, who influenced by the 
energy of his manner, the thunder of his voice, and 
his flowing eloquence, were ready to subscribe his 
unnatural and incomprehensible faith, professing 
their willingness to endure eternal damnation, that 
they might be forever saved. His disciples were 
chiefly the illiterate and uninformed, who made up 
in zeal what the\- lacked in knowledge, Like most 
reformers he; turned the force of his artillery against 



ii8 

the amusements and pleasures of society. His 
attendant, Seward, announced in the Gazette, that 
since Mr. Whitefield's preaching, the dancing school, 
assembly, and concert room had been closed, as 
inconsistent with the doctrines of the Gospel ; 
and though the gentlemen concerned had broken 
open the doors, no company attended on their 
invitation." Evidently Mr. Gordon was not a friend 
to religion among the masses, though he must 
record the wonderful influence of the preacher, 

Benjamin Franklin was a friend to the great 
preacher, and Franklin was a clear headed philoso- 
pher who would not have given his approval to a 
man who could only move the illiterate. Of 
Franklin it is said that on one occasion he heard 
Whitefield pleading for his Orphan House. At first 
he decided that he would not give anything, but as 
the speaker proceeded, he concluded he would give 
a small amount, but when the speaker had finished 
his appeal, unable to resist, Franklin emptied the 
entire contents of his purse on the plate. White- 
field's voice was marvelous. It was said to be an 
organ, a ilute, a harp all in one, and that he was 
able to produce every emotion of the human heart 
by pronouncing the word ''' Mesopotamia." " Dr. 
Lathrop related a scene which he had witnessed, 
without any feeling, to Mr. Whitefield. The same 
day. Dr. Lathrop listened to the same story, by Mr. 
Whitefield, and found himself bathed in tears." 



119 

Sucii was the fearless, eloquent, godly man who in 
an unknown tongue spake to the Germans of Penn- 
sylvania. How much Antes understood we do not 
know, but it is very probable that he was acquainted 
with the English language, and from this time on 
he became Whltefield's friend and helper in the 
work. With a heart already on fire for the work 
of the Lord, the influence of the great preacher 
^^dded to its intensity until its heat and light flamed 
forth on every side. 

With such men there was no time for delay, 
every hour was precious, life was too short to spend 
any of it in loitering, hence, though this meeting 
had been very precious, and the whole country was 
stirred, they must at once proceed on their way. 
We have already noted that at three o'clock the 
next morning the preacher and his party were on 
their way, with a long journey before them, but at 
that time another party set forward. Whitefield 
was filled with the desire of establishing a school 
for negroes. For this purpose he had purchased a 
tract of 5000 acres of land in the Forks of the Del- 
aware, upon wdiich, in a suitable place the school 
could be built. Now he thinks he has found the 
proper men to do this work for him. Thus we see 
that Antes made a strikingly favorable Impression 
upon the great evangelist. Bohler and Seyffert 
of the Moravians, with Henry Antes as their guide, 
started to view the purchase, and arrange for the 



I20 

beginning of the school. They travelled all day. 
How sweet their conversation must have been as 
they rode their horses through the unbroken forest 
and recalled the tone, the manner, the fiery glance, 
the impassioned appeal, and the glowing words of 
the evangelist the day before. At length they 
arrived at an extensive Indian village, in the beau- 
tiful valley of the Forks, and there in the woods 
spent the hours of the night. The next day they 
examined the property. The Indians were friendly 
— possibly they were known by Antes, who now 
serving as guide must have before been along these 
forest paths. They decided on the spot to locate 
the school, and then returned to Antes' home. It 
was then decided that Bohler should superintend 
the work, while several who were eood mechanics 
would do the work. Antes and Seyffert, both good 
mechanics, thoroughly supported Bohler in the 
plans agreed upon. 

On the 19th of May, 1740, fourteen persons, 
Bohler, Antes, Seyffert, seven Moravian brethren, 
two sisters and two boys who had come from 
Georgia the preceding April, arrived at the Indian 
villao^e, and bec^an the erection of a buildincj on a 
spot which from that day to this is known as Naza- 
reth. But as often happens, the work was retarded. 
Before the building was completed the ardent phil- 
anthropist and evangelist was thrown into financial 
embarrassment, and compelled to relinquish his 



121 



worthy project, but the ideas of these Germans had 
been fastened on this work, and in Antes' hands, 
although in a slightly different way, the plans of the 
evangelist were destined to be carried to a success- 
ful completion. 



Chapter XII. 
TJic Fouiiduig of BctlilcJicm. 

" I 741 was an unhappy year for Philadelphia — 
discontent, wars, rumors of wars, pestilence, famine 
and distress among the poor, dissensions among 
those in power and place. The currency was dis- 
ordered, the home government and the city people 
differing about the rates to be paid for foreign coins. 
There were large fires — the Governor's mills on the 
Cohocksink, and Hamilton's building on the river 
front, beinor burnt. The severe weather of the 
Winter caused so much distress among the poor 
that the regular resources were exhausted, and the 
Common Council had to make an additional appro- 
priation and appoint a committee to solicit subscrip- 
tions for relief. There were riots (growing out ot 
the scarcity of small change), so that the Common 
Council had to establish a rallying signal for the 
citizens to rendezvous at central points for the 
suppression of outbreaks, and order a sort of curfew 
to compel negroes to go home early and cease their 
riotous assemblages. There was a serious epidemic 
outbreak of yellow fever, the cause of which was 
either West Indies importation or the bad condition 
of the dock. The Governor and Assembly had a 



quarrel about it, and the result was a heavy increase 
of mortality. There were seven hundred and 
eighty-five burials during the year, an increase of 
five hundred and five over the preceding year. 
The disease was called the Palatine fever, and two 
hundred and six of these immigrants fell victims to 
it. But it caused a thorouQ^h examination of the 
condition of the quarantine, and a remedy for the 
troubles. It is sad to reflect that this terrible state 
of affairs had resulted from the quarrels between 
the Quakers and the Governor's party, and the 
refusal of the Assembly to pay the quarantine 
physician for his services. 

It may not be amiss at this point to notice the 
general political condition of the Province. In the 
cit)- of Philadelphia there were two parties which 
were showing their antagonism in every possible 
form, and bringing all questions in dispute. The 
one party was headed by the Governor, who had 
associated with the aristocracy, from a political 
point of view. As usual with that class, the love of 
pomp and power prevailed over principle. The 
other party was under the control of the Friends' 
Meeting, and was largely made up of the Quakers 
with others who desired the ways of peace. During 
the Spanish war, the enemy had kept several 
privateers along the coast, which sadly interfered 
w^ith the colonial commerce. The Governor recom- 
mended the Assembly to equip vessels of war, to 



124 

grant a bounty for every enemy killed or taken, 
and to provide for the families of seamen killed or 
wounded in the service, but the Assembly in a 
characteristic spirit resolved, that if the royal navy 
at Boston, New York, and in X^irginia, were inade- 
quate for the protection of the coast, little could be 
expected from them, situated so remotely from the 
sea, and unable to sustain the expense. 

This same war, now located in the West Indies 
occasioned great demands by friend and foe foi 
provisions. To prevent the supply of the eneni) 
an embargo was laid on all sorts of provisions ir 
Great Britain and Ireland, and a bill interdicting 
their export, except to the British dominions, was 
introduced into Parliament. But the zeal of Gov- 
ernor Thomas had anticipated this measure in 
Pennsylvania, by proclamation, limiting the export 
of provisions to British jDorts. He endeavored to 
prevail on the Assembly to entirely prohibit the 
export of wheat. The House not only refused his 
request, but intimated that he was fortunately pro- 
tected by the King's proclamation and act of Par- 
liament from an inquiry into the legality of the 
restriction which he had himself laid upon commerce. 

The crowded state of the passenger ships from 
Ireland and Germany, sometimes engendering pes- 
tilential fevers, had early invited the attention of 
:he Legislature. The landing of infected passengers 
n the city was forbidden ; but ample provision was 



125 

not made for the sickly emigrants. Governor 
Thomas had frequently recommended to the As- 
sembly to build a lazaretto, but they had hitherto 
pleaded their poverty. Dr. Graeme, the port 
physician, whose duty it was to visit all unhealthy 
vessels, having resigned his office, in consequence 
of the refusal of the Assembly to pay his account, 
was succeeded by Dr. Zacharry Lloyd, by the 
appointment of the Assembly. A virulent dispute 
was engendered by the Governor's denial of the 
right of the House to appoint this officer ; and, 
during the contest, the duties of the place being 
neglected, a contagious distemper, attended by 
great mortality, was introduced into the city, from 
some vessels having German passengers on board. 
This afflicting dispensation was charitably ascribed 
by the Governor and Assembly each to the other, 
by having suspended or impeded the duties of the 
port physician. Both parties made the dispute a 
means for flattering the Germans, whom they pro- 
claimed to be an honest and valuable portion of 
the population. All fears of foreigners had faded 
awa)' ; and each charged the other with the hostility 
which both had displayed against foreigners gen- 
erall)\ The Germans now formed a large propor- 
tion of the landholders of the Province ; and, what 
was at present more to the purpose, a large pro- 
portion of the voters, who must determine the 
character of the next Assembly. 



126 



From this dispute grew the determination of the 
House to establish a lazaretto. An island, subse- 
quently called Providence Island, a valuable tract 
of three hundred and forty-two acres, situated at 
the continence of the rivers Delaware and Schuyl- 
kill, was purchased. The property was vested in 
trustees who were created a board of health, with 
the necessary power to prevent the approach of 
sickly vessels to the town, and to retain diseased 
passengers until convalescent. The expense in- 
curred was chargeable on the importer, to whom 
recourse was given against the effects of the pas- 
sengers. The quarrel between the Governor and 
Assembly became uncontrollable, either by official 
forms or a sense of public decorum. Charges of 
untruth, imposture, hypocrisy, tyranny, and faction, 
disgraced the addresses of the one and the replies 
of the other. The Governor, having lost all hope 
of convincing the House, or reforming its conduct, 
wrote messages only to open the eyes of its deluded 
constituents; while the House charged him with 
the design of subverting the liberties of the people. 
They found evidence in support of this allegation 
in his correspondence with the ministry, copies of 
which had been procured and transmitted by the 
Pro\incial agent. To obtain favor with the Crown, 
and to protect himself against the remonstrance of 
ihe Assembly, the Governor had represented it as 
iain to hope for military aid from Pennsylvania, 



127 

whilst the Quakers had the rio-ht of sitting; in the 
Assembly, and that body was empowered to dispose 
of public money, and to meet and adjourn at pleas- 
ure. These privileges, he earnestly recommended 
should be suppressed. He represented, that the 
Quakers, by the direction of the Yearly Meeting, 
had been unusually active in procuring seats in the 
Assembly ; and that of thirty members, three only 
were not of that sect. That they had abused the 
confidence of the Germans ; had predjudiced them 
against the Government, by inducing them to believe 
that a mild militia law would reduce them to slavery, 
such as they had suffered under the German princes; 
that they would be impoverished by the expense, 
would be dragged from their farms, and compelled 
to build forts, in return for their admission into the 
Province. He stated the Province to be rapidly 
increasing in population, and its wealth to be 
/io,ooo in bank, and an annual income of ^7500, 
from the loan office and excise. He portrayed the 
conduct of the Assembly in the darkest colors, and 
expressed a wish to resign as soon as he could 
safely transport himself and family to England. 

When the time for the elections came, the streets 
of Philadelphia became the arena of rioting and 
bloodshed. Sailors from the vessels in the river 
came upon the people and attacked them with 
clubs, but the country people rallied to the defence 
of their privileges and drove the sailors back tc 



128 

their ships. The Quakers were supported by the 
Germans, and the Governor's party was defeated. 
While this was going on in Philadelphia Henry 
Antes was laboring in the German settlements to 
establish harmony, righteousness and peace among 
the people, and yet, such is the false view of popular 
historians that his name has been overlooked in the 
pages of history while attention has centered on 
the doings of unscrupulous agitators and politicians. 
The work by the ardent Eschenbach was also 
Qfrowino- and Evancjelical truth was fiourishinsf all 
through that part of the Province. It was a battle 
of true religion against men, form, and meaningless 
pretention. At this time Antes was still a member 
of the Reformed Church, but the boon companion 
of the Moravian missionaries, and as we have seen 
the ally of Whitefield. The religious movement 
was bitterly opposed by denominationalism. From 
that stand-point the dearth of religion was dreadful. 
For instance, from the Lutherlan point of view it is 
thus described, — "His (Henry M. Muhlenberg, the 
first Lutheran minister in 1742) coming was most 
opportune. There were none to minister to the 
religious wants of the people, except several self- 
constituted pastors, who were men without educa- 
:ion and without piety. Though the first Germans 
n America were men of earnest devotions, they 
;ould not, without religious advisers, retain their 
Diety, or transmit it to their children. They conse- 



129 

quently declined rapidly in spirituality. When 
Muhlenberg came he found their religious condi- 
tion deplorable. There were no churches and no 
schoolhouses, save one building in New Hanover, 
and that too poor for occupancy. He at once 
undertook to build churches and schoolhouses for 
the religious and secular instruction of both old and 
young. Very few of the young could read, and 
teachers of suitable character and qualifications 
could not be procured. So Muhlenberg became 
both pastor and teacher. " Necessity," he says, "has 
compelled me to become a teacher of the children. 
One week I keep school in Philadelphia, the next 
in Providence, and the third in New Hanover ; and 
I think God's o-race is visiting; us. It was, how 
ever, high time that I should come. If affairs had 
remained a few years longer in the same state in 
which I found them, our poor Lutherans would 
have been scattered or turned over to heathenism." 
Describing the religious condition of the country, 
he says, " Atheists, deists, and naturalists are to be 
met with everywhere. I think there is not a sect 
in the Christian world that has not followers here. 
You meet with persons from almost every nation 
in the world. God and his Word are openly 
blasphemed. Here are thousands who by birth, 
education and confirmation, oueht to belongf to our 
church, but they are scattered to the four winds of 
heaven. The spiritual state of our people Is so 



130 

wretched as to cause us to shed tears in abundance. 
The young people are grown up without education 
and without the knowledo^e of rehtrion, and are 
turninsf to heathenism." Muhlenbers: was a thor- 
oughly evangelical preacher, and became a power 
for good in the land, but he was thoroughly 
denominational, and looked at things in the light 
of Lutheran Church interests largely. 

On the part of the Reformed was Michael 
Schlatter, whose biography gives this account: 
" The original emigration from Germany, which 
forms the root of the two denominations in America 
known as the Reformed and the Lutherans, came 
from that province in Germany then known as the 
Palatinate. It is the most fertile and the most beau- 
tiful part of Germany, lying on its frontiers over 
against France, through which contending armies 
have for ages passed and repassed. It has long 
since ceased to be a separate kingdom. A portion 
of it (Rhenish Bavaria) belongs now to Bavaria ; 
another portion, with the ancient capital Heidleberg. 
forms the southern part of Baden ; and a third 
portion has recently been annexed to Prussia. At 
this time (1730) the Reformed, holding to the old 
Reformed confession, constitute more than one-half 
of the whole number of the German emiofrants to 
Pennsylvania, being about 1 5,000. These Ger- 
mans formed in many instances the outposts of 
civilization, and served to protect not a fev/ English 




THE FIRST REFORMED CHURCH IX PHILAD'A. 



131 

communities from the incursions of tlie Indians. 
But the people were mostly poor. They were not 
able to bring ministers of the gospel with them, but 
they brought over their Bibles, catechisms, hymn 
books, and devotional works. In many settlements 
they had pious and excellent schoolmasters. In 
most cases they formed congregations, built churches 
and by their side at once planted school-houses, 
each with a dwelling and land for the occupancy of 
the schoolmaster. These often, when there was 
no minister, conducted a religious service by the 
reading of sermons and prayers, and the people 
sought and found spiritual edification in these ser- 
vices, and in singing the grand old hymns and 
chorals of the Fatherland. As early as 1726 a log 
church was built In Skippack, Pennsylvania. A few 
ministers came from Germany, and extended their 
labors with considerable success over the various 
German settlements. The man who was to organ- 
ize these congregations into a compact whole, and 
thus to lay a stable foundation for future growth, 
was the Rev. Michael Schlatter." 

The Reformed view was more encouraging than 
the Lutheran, but In the prosecution of evangelistic 
work by the Moravians, both united in opposition, 
seeing no good in it. John Philip Boehm, the 
pastor of the Reformed Church, was like Muhlen- 
berg and Schlatter, a brave, zealous, hard working 
pastor, but thoroughly denominational. He was 



quite a missionary pastor, and had congregations 
in Philadelphia, Germantown^ Whitpain, Forks of 
the Delaware, Hanover, Sklppack and Whitemarsh, 
and in addition was quite a land owner. He was a 
man of ability, a fine penman, and a careful pre- 
server of all records pertaining to his church. But 
with all his excellence, he was far inferior to Antes 
in breadth of view, and, incapable of realizing the 
greatness of the idea that controlled Antes, set his 
face against it, and with voice, pen, and personal 
influence, sought to prevent it from being consum- 
mated. Muhlenberg, when he came, joined with 
him, and thus denominationalism sought to destroy 
the purest form of evangelicalism. Perhaps it did 
not seem so to them, but to-day we can see how far 
Antes was superior to his time, for now the noblest 
souls of our denominations are hoping and praying 
for just such a union as he aimed at, and to-day we 
see clearly that one of the greatest, if not the great- 
est of foes to the spread of the truth of Christ and 
success in mission work, is that same spirit of denom- 
inationalism. 

Antes loved the Reformed communion, but he 
loved souls better, and his brave heart would not 
be turned from the course it had marked out to 
develop the Master's Kingdom. There now came 
another of the bishops of the Moravian Church, 
David Nitchman, who had formerly been with them, 
but had returned to Europe. There also came 



133 

another prominent worker, David Zeisberger, Sr. 
These men came to consult with Henry Antes in 
regard to a suitable place for establishing a Mora- 
vian settlement. For this purpose they had 
received various offers, such as a place in Frederick, 
and a place in New Hanover, but their attention 
was directed to the plans of Whitefield, in the 
Forks of the Delaware, which had failed, leaving 
there a colony of brave hearted Moravians. Henry 
Antes for and in behalf of the Moravian Brethren, 
purchased of William Allen for ^400, five hundred 
acres located on Monacacy Creek and the west 
branch of the Delaware River, now known as the 
Lehigh. It is upon this ground the city of Bethle- 
hem now stands, and this became the first peculiarly 
Moravian settlement in Pennsylvania. 




Chapter XIII. 

Zinzcndorf and the Conferences. 

pN the loth day of December, 1741, there 
appeared on the scene a new character to 
^ aid in moulding the features of the times. 
Mja^ This was Nicholas Lewis, Count of Zin- 
zendorf and Pottendorf, but familiarly known as 
Count Zinzendorf. Of all the men who visited the 
Province there was no one superior to this great 
man. At this time he was forty-one years of age, 
of middle stature, Inclining toward corpulency, with 
a countenance glowing with a holy light, which was 
shed from his dark brown eyes over all his features. 
In his bearing there was a hearty affability joined 
with noble manners, and priestly devotion. One 
has written of him, " Zinzendorf, as had been his 
wont for many years, spent the entire afternoon, 
(Sunday) In retirement, communing with God 
respecting himself and the plans for the church 
under his care. That blessed look, often seen in 
him when he was in the spirit on the Lord's day, 
attracted those nearest him to go close to him, not 
to address him, which they carefully avoided, but 
simply to cast a glance upon him. The last Sun- 
days of his life his eyes had more than once been 

134 



03 



seen Tull of tears, giving them such a blessed expres- 
sion as impressed deeply the hearts of his most 
attached friends." • 

No doubt but that from Spangenberg, Nitchman 
and Eschenbach, Antes had often heard of this 
noble bishop, and had longed to behold him, and 
no doubt but that the Count had heard of Antes, 
the bold soldier of the Lord in the wilderness, and 
the helper of his people, so that when the opportu- 
nity came, they lost no time in becoming acquainted, 
and in communing with each other in regard to the 
one work which they both cherished within their 
hearts. 

But that we may the better appreciate this noble 
character, let us look at his life, for he was one of 
ihe Lord's own, called in answer to prayer, for a 
special purpose, to do a needed work. "His father, 
a christian statesman and court minister of electoral 
Saxony, had taken part with Spener, and had 
received from him, when forming a second marriage 
with the Baroness Von Gersdorf, his wishes that 
they might be given a pious posterity and godly 
wisdom, by which to save them from the prevailing 
degeneracy. ' For,' said Spener, ' in these corrupt 
times it seems to men almost impossible to bring 
up children, of the higher rank, especially, as chris- 
tians.' Nicholas was the only child of this marriage. 
Spener was his god-parent, along with the electoral 
princesses of Saxony, and of the Palatinate. In a 



136 

visit, shortly before the close of his life, Spener laid 
his hands on the boy of four years and gave him 
his blessing." Zinzendorf himself has said, " My 
dear grandmother kept me for ten years in her own 
chamber, my Aunt Henrietta prayed with me 
morning and evening, and passed the day in accord 
w^ith the prayer. In my fourth year I began to seek 
God with such earnestness as accorded with my 
childish notions. From that time especially, it was 
my steadfast resolve to become a true servant of 
the crucified Jesus. The first profound impression 
upon my heart was made by w^hat m)- mother told 
me of my blessed father, and of his hearty love for 
the martyred person of the Savior. * * 

I recollect weeping once very bitterly because, in 
family worship, I lost, by falling asleep, the verse, 
*Thou art our dear father, because Christ is our 
dear brother.' This thought sweetly impressed me 
in my fourth or fifth year, for I believed that as soon 
as one was pardoned, he was in the company of the 
Savior as a brother.' " 

" At this time of hir. childhood Zinzendorf wrote 
tender letters to the Savior, and threw them out of 
the window, confident that the Lord would receive 
them and read them." " Very early this heart was 
tried by deep-reaching speculations. ' In my eighth 
year,' he says, ' I was led by a song which my 
grandmother sang at bedtime into a revery and 
profound speculation which kept me awake the 



137 

whole nig-ht, and made me unconscious of hearinof or 
seeino;. The most subtle atheistic notions entered 
iny mind. I was so wrought upon by them, and so 
prostrated, that all which I have read and heard 
since of unbelieving doubts prove very shallow and 
weak, and make no impression upon me.' By the 
use of his will, the boy forever subdued this assault. 
* What I fancied that grew odious to me, what I 
believed, that I willed,' he says, ' I resolved at once 
to use my understanding in earthly things whenever 
necessity arose, and to brighten and to sharpen it, 
since by it only could progress be made ; but in 
spiritual things to abide simply by the truth appre- 
hended in the heart, making this the foundation for 
the acquirement of truth. What I could not bring 
in connection therewith I resolved to cast utterly 
away.' Thus Zinzendorf's theology became, in 
accordance with its origin, a heart theology. It was 
free from all refinements respecting the foundations 
and the abysses of existence. It aimed with its 
entire strength at Christian living and doing. This 
it was which gave it its limitation but also power." 
When ten years of age Zinzendorf was sent to 
Halle, then under the charge of Francke. Many 
of the Pietists were associated there, and the devout 
boy found it one of the most delightful experiences 
of his life. The nature of his life's work was there 
.m.-uHfcstcd, in his forminor associations with friends 
■ji like spirit. With Frederick of Watteville, Zin-. 



138 

zendorf made an especial compact for the conver- 
sion of the heathen, and of those especially to whom 
no one else would go. Thus, as it often occurs in 
life, school-life became a prophecy of the after 
career. When sixteen years of age he was sent to 
Wittenberg to fit him for an honorable career in 
the service of the state, and to tone down his 
religious zeal, but this not succeeding, when nine- 
teen, he was removed to Utrecht. " Here he read 
law, theology, acquired English, and entered into 
the theological controversies with the reformed and 
with the doctors of philosophy, and soon found out 
that his reasonincrs were insufficient. After a while 
he continued his travels to Paris, which was the 
resort of other young German nobles for the sake 
of the excitements of the luxurious city, and the 
pleasures of its court. Zinzendorf not only lived 
with thoroughly pure morals, but sought the acquain- 
tance of earnest Christians among the priests and 
bishops of the Catholic communion, and indeed 
became quite intimate with the devout Archbishop 
of Paris, Cardinal Noailles. 

He found the prelates as firmly established in 
their church belief as he was in his. They soon 
agreed on both sides to lay aside controversy in 
order to join in the love of Christ. In 1738 he 
wrote, ' Moreover, I cherish and highly esteem, 
according to my way, all who love Jesus. I would 
consider myself very unhappy to be counted an 



139 

alien by any Catholic wlio loves Christ, although in 
many points I differ wholly from their opinions.' 
Zinzendorf had no thought of destroying creeds as 
boundary marks defining the different households 
of God. Joining with the Moravian brethren, with 
the Reformed, and with the Lutherans, in sacra- 
mental fellowship, he would yet not offer this symbol 
of fraternity to that great corporation which failed 
to make a right distinction between believers and 
unbelievers." When at the age of twenty-one, he 
.purchased Bethelsdorf, and there welcomed the 
exiled and oppressed Moravian brethren, cast his 
lot in with them, became their bishop, and moulded 
the life of the fraternity according to the ancient 
principles of the Unitas Fratritm. 

It was a remarkable scene in which Zinzendorf 
was welcomed to the home of Antes, In training 
they were just the opposite. The life of Zinzendorf 
had been in universities, in traveling, in the royal 
courts, while Antes, who had been partially educated 
in the schools of Germany, had yet passed the 
greater part of his life in the American forests. 
Both were of the same age. Antes being the more 
robust man of the two. Both were the descendents 
of nobility, and in their manner gave evidence of 
thejiigh social habits they had inherited. But these 
things alone were of little account, their great point 
of similarity was in the spirit they possessed. Both 
cherished the same ideal, it seemed to have been 



140 

born in them, childhood and maturity only adding 
to its power. Though all the world was against 
them, they would not hide their desire, but with 
every nerve sought to give it success. And yet 
,there was this difference^ Zinzendorf was m^ore of 
an ecclesiastic, and was willing to use the parapher- 
nalia of ecclesiasticism, while Antes was ready to 
discard all that, and with only what the New Testa- 
ment taught believers to observe, to unite men who 
were moved by the Spirit of the Lord. In this Antes 
was superior to Zinzendorf, and at the same time a 
truer exponent of the ancient principles of the 
Unitas Fratrtu?i, freed from its high church features. 
The Count assented to the unity movement rather 
than positively desiring it, being no doubt, aware of 
the tremendous obstacles in the way, but after con- 
sultations with Antes, Weigner, and others of like 
mind, who were filled with a strong hope that right 
might prevail, it was resolved to call a conference, 
irrespective of denominations, which was done in 
the following letter. 

" Call for a meeting of christians to be held on 
New Year's Day, 1742, in Germantown. In the 
name of Jesus ! Amen. 
" Mv Dear Friend and Brother : 

Since a fearful 
injur)' is done in the Church of Christ among those 
souls who are called to the Lamb, and this mostly 
;hrough mistrust and suspicion, and that often with- 



141 

out foundation, which one entertains toward another, 
by which every attempt to do good is frustrated — 
and since, contrary to this, we are commanded to 
love one another — the question has been discussed 
in the minds of some persons for two or more 
years, whether it would not be possible to bring 
about a General Assembly, not for the purpose of 
disputing with one another, but to confer in love 
on the important articles of faith, in order to see 
how near all could come together in fundamental 
points, and in other matters that do not overthrow 
the ground of salvation, to bear with one another 
in charity, that thus all judging and condemning 
amons: the above mentioned souls mio^ht be abated 
and prevented ; since by such uncharitableness we 
expose ourselves before the world, and give it occa- 
sion to say : * Those who preach peace and conver- 
sion themselves stand against one another.' These 
facts have induced many brethren and God-fearing 
souls to take this important matter into earnest 
consideration, and to view it In the presence of the 
Lord ; and they have concluded to assemble on the 
coming New Year's Day in Germantown. Accord- 
ingly, you are heartily entreated, with several 
others of your brethren who rest on good ground, 
and can cjive a reason for their faith, to assemble 
with us if the Lord permits you so to do. Nearly 
all others have been informed of this by the same 
kind of letter as is here sent to you. It is believed 



142 

that it will be a large Assembly ; but let not this 
keep }Ou back ; everything will be done without 
rumor. The Lord Jesus grant His blessing to it. 
From your poor and humble but sincere friend 
and brother, 

Henrv Antes. 

Frederick Townsliip, in Pliiladelphia Co., Dec. 15, 174 1. 

It had been decided that Henry Antes should 
lead the movement, supported by the inHuence of 
the others, a position for which they considered him 
thoroughly qualified, and their confidence was not 
misplaced. There were seven conferences held. 
As to the dates, if we adopt the new style, we will 
place them just eleven days later than the dates on 
the original documents. The first conference was 
held at the house of Theobald Entens in German- 
town, on the first day of January, 1742. At this 
meeting Henry Antes presided. Count Zinzen- 
dorf was present and had the opportunity for 
declarincr his views, and winning" the hearts of the 
brethren. This meeting continued until late in the 
evening of the following day. during which ques- 
tions of doctrine, and the proper basis for christian 
union were discussed. 

The second conference was held at Georsfc 
Hubner's house in Falkner Swamp on January 14th 
and 15th, At this conference Zinzendorf was also 
present, and also several who at a later day became 
prominent in the Moravian interests. Immediately 



143 

upon the close of this conference ZInzendorf 
returned to Philadelphia, The third conference 
met at the house of John de Turck in Oley on the 
loth, iithand i 2th of February. This must have 
been an exceptionally precious meeting, for not only 
was Zinzendorf present, but he set apart to the 
work of the ministry, the noble Eschenbach and 
three of his companions. The fourth conference 
was at Mr. Ashmead's in Germantown on March 
loth, I ith and 12th. At this meeting the wrongs 
done the Indians at Nazareth was brought forward, 
and Henry Antes was commissioned to make a 
thorough examination of the case, and to see that 
justice was done the Indians. This was indeed a 
delicate task, owing to the peculiar claims the 
Indians put forth for lands and privileges which they 
did not hesitate to sell, and then sell again. The 
peaceful relations afterward sustained between the 
Indians and Henry Antes is a proof of how well he 
executed this delicate diplomatic commission. Zin- 
zendorf was also present at this conference. The 
fifth conference met at Germantown in April. As 
this conference was closing, Henry Antes' father 
married for his second wife Elizabeth Nayman in 
the First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. The 
sixth conference met in Germantown in May, and 
the seventh in Philadelphia on June 2nd, 3d and 4th. 
The movement met with decided opposition from 
the start. Denominationalism was fiercely arra^•ed 



144 

against It, not only the larger bodies, but the 
smaller sects also. As this opposition grew many 
of those who at first desired the success of the 
movement dropped out of it until it gradually 
became the property of the Moravians. The oppo- 
sition stooped to the most unchristian methods. 
The character of Zinzendorf was assailed and his 
peculiarities placed in a light to do him harm. 
Rev. Mr. Boehm put on the war paint and published 
a pamphlet denouncing Zinzendorf and reproaching 
Antes, but, while many were frightened from con- 
tinuing the work. Antes confident in the right of it, 
as a servant of Jesus Christ could neither be coaxed 
or frightened out of it. He had adopted it as his 
life work, and call him wliat they might, he would 
persevere, and although not a Moravian at this 
time, he endorsed Zinzendorf, looked after his 
interests, and at the seventh meeting of the confer- 
ence issued an address over his own siiinature to 
the people of the Province. 

It was entitled "An address of the laborers in 
the Church of Jesus Christ in Pennsylvania, to the 
entire country," and it began with the words 
" Geliebtes Pennsylvania." It is as follows : 
" Dear Pexxsvi.vania : 

We, who know )-ou and 
your circumstances, complained heartily to our 
brother Von Thurnstein, when he came over the 
ocean, with such a hungry and thirsty heart for you. 



145 

We have seen and felt how rich you are ; how 
satisfied in this matter all are who have an under- 
standing of it ; and in what darkness the rest lie. 
It appeared to us at first, before we understood the 
deep purpose of wisdom by experience, that his 
Savior, who is always so true to him, had only per- 
mitted the callino; tooether of workers of all reliorions 
on one day — which Ludwig more permitted than 
desired — against all thoughts of men and against 
all customs of this country, to show him when he 
had scarcely arrived, as it were, Pennsylvania in a 
concentrated body together, revealing the bitterness 
of the rest at once, so that he could from these 
leaders conclude as to the others, and out of these 
most properly select the best of the ordinar)^ class. 
But we were comfortable on the one side, when we 
heard from him, that, as far as he was concerned, 
he was only an observer, and should not do any- 
thing here but preach the gospel and investigate. 
It was also to us that he said after his first glance 
at the religious persuasions: Here a prophet of 
the Lord would make a frail figure, for here one 
having a knowledge of the young children's cate- 
chism is considered sufficient for the wisdom of 
these spirits and a match for an honest Lutheran 
minister. He (Thurnstein) declared quite in the 
beginning in view of the severe charges against 
him, and the proscriptions by the congregation 
who had from him no one to take no care of 



145 

{i. e., to whom he was under no obligations — they 
had done him no favors), he saw no person that could 
be deemed fit, for since in all the wickedness of 
man the natural want of understanding is the chief 
cause that men behave so incomprehensibly and 
frightfully as they do, there could be almost nobody 
worthy to be admitted into the little congregation 
(Bundlein), the exclusion therefrom being so un- 
happy ; moreover, up to this time, there had not been 
a visible conQfre^ation in the land, and it was neither 
reasonable nor evangelical to suppose that the people 
preferred to look upon the bugbears (pictures of ter- 
ror they imagined), rather than upon the lovely pic- 
ture of the church. With this mind he labored ; he 
suffered patiently, he shunned no abuse and words; 
he would not have answered so fully to Schronfield's 
writing had he not promised a month previously 
that he would give arguments if demanded ; and 
to this only had he committed himself; and so soon 
as he was answered ' here there is nothing to prove 
except before a court of justice' he allowed the 
entire multitude of accusations to rest as they were, 
and contented himself in those days, to prove to us 
that they were invented word for word. But it is 
not necessary for us to say more about this brother ; 
there is yet a word for you beloved country people in 
Pennsylvania. The monthly religious conferences 
are now at an end. The blessing of God upon our 
children from Philadelphia and Germantown, who 



147 

were in the house of our brother, give us much pity 
that you too have not found worthy an inquiry as to 
the benevolent act, which was more Intended for 
you than for us, and that the providing for six 
hundred children was not to be made out so feather 
easy.* Do then also herein, what pleases your 
heart, for you are still too rich to need ought, and 
too proud to ask anything. But we think also of 
you, hidden people of God in Pennsylvania. To- 
day at last, a visible congregation of the Lord has 
been seen and acknowledged in Philadelphia ; every 
member thereof has manifested himself before us. 
Its home for the present, Bethlehem ; the small flocks 
of evangelical religions, in Philadelphia, German- 
towai, ©ley and Frederick Township who were 
•waiting for the salvation of Israel, which the sec- 
taries call sects, but with whom the most impartial 
and motherlike spirit is found, have most cordially 
united with them. Another portion of us belong 
to such sects as are hirelings to wolves and foxes, 
and that make robbery of the unfledged chickens 
of Jesus, If they join Invisibly. But we are one body, 
and one spirit, since we are called in ojie hope ; one 
Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father 
of all, who is over us all, and in 21s all. We all 
together constitute the body of Christ in Pennsyl- 
vania, which was at our first conference by all 
religions confessed ; at the second again substan- 

*rerhaps he here means not so easy as the lifting of a feather. 



148 

tiated ; at the third, sealed ; at the fourth, declared ; 
at the fifth and sixth, proved ; and at this seventh 
and last general religions conference, by the visible 
congregation of Jesus, present, made happy. We 
shall also continue in all quietness this church 
council quarterly according as the wisdom of the 
Lord will supply. Our members will assist in this ; 
to call upon all who are without to acquaint all 
with the Spirit. Hithekward ! who belong to 
THE Lord ! These are the words of the congrega- 
tion of the Lord to all their unknown and known 
fellow mem bers, and all who call upon the Lord 
our God from their hearts. Von will have pity 
upon Zion ! By order of the synod. 

Henry Antes. 

Philadelphia, June, 1742. 

To show the spirit of the opposition we now pre- 
sent John Philip Boehm's criticisms of Antes, because 
of his part in the Unity Conferences. " Immediately 
in the beginning of this account (page B of the 
authentic account of the proceedings of the Confer- 
ence held at Germantown, January 2d, 1742) I 
cannot sufficiently express my astonishment at Henry 
Antes, who, for several years past for quite excep- 
tional reasons, has separated himself from our 
Reformed Congregation in Falkner Swamp. With 
whom I have on several occasions spoken on neces- 
sary things, and have, from the tenor of his remarks, 
'ived in strong hope of winning him — which hope I 



149 

have not yet cast away — although these objection- 
able* things, which are well known to me, and are 
going on, and to this date are kept up, but to the 
good and merciful God I sigh that He will graciously 
pity him, and all persons confused by the spirit of 
Dwahlingt for the sake of their precious and undy- 
ing souls. And I will leave to the judgement of 
every godly and right minded christian what Henry 
Antes has done, and I exclude none who have done 
and are doing as he has, and which he continues to 
do. For, under the clear light of the Gospel was 
he born, holy baptism did he receive, through which 
he entered the covenant which He has made for 
the faithful ; this covenant, I doubt not, was 
explained according to the word of God, for I knew 
his zealous and faithful instructor well — at his parti- 
cipation in the Holy Communion. At which time, 
without doubt, he vowed, before his teacher and the 
elders of the congregation of Christ, and in the 
presence of the righteous God, that he would 
persevere to the end of his life and be faithful to our 
religion (faith) which he had once accepted, and 
which is grounded upon the true and living God 
only for salvation through his guiding word, (lee 
tender worte). This, beloved, which he did before 

*Literally, " Things going quite against the current of the stream." 

f Precisely what Boehm intended by this word we know not. It is prob- 
ably best translated by the word Mop and may mean as in the Old English 
provincialism — a grimace; a made up face; or, of the common expression 
now in use, turning up the nose. 



ISO 

men, and Almighty God, he has broken, and 
has for several )ears past, allowed himself to be 
dragged about by the spirit of Dwahling among 
all sorts of erring persons, and by their sectarian 
views. And now at the present time, he allows 
himself again to be led about like a blind man with 
a staff, by the more adroit Count von Zinzendorf In 
his sectarian affairs. To think that Henry Antes, 
who, as I acknowledge, has a far wider conception 
(understanding) than many others, would fall into 
sin before his God, and rejecting His truth, give 
himself to such a soul destroying teaching (doctrine) I 
So far as Henry Antes and myself are concerned, 
he knows full well how our hearts were formerly 
bound together in cordial love for the divine truth 
of our Reformed teachings, and that he was one of 
those who with his tears helped to persuade me to 
take upon my neck the Yoke.* These things, I 
am sure, have not passed from his memory. This 
love, for my part, I have not been able to forget, 
and although I have been deeply wounded by him, 
I shall never forget to beseech the Almighty In my 
prayers, to bring him, together with all the erring 
ones, by the power of the Holy Ghost, back to the 
right. But, I would advise him, heartily and openly, 
if he will receive advice for himself, because It con- 
cerns his own undying soul, not to delay too long 
an honest examination of himself; not to Imagine 

*RefeiTing to his assuming the ministry without ordination. 



151 

such to be unnecessary in his case ; it might other- 
wise, through his own darkening of the heart, be 
delayed until the end of his life, the nearness of 
which none of us know. Consider what a sad. 
condition it is for the poor soul, when a person,. 
while it is yet time^ is ashamed to acknowledge, 
from pride of heart that he erred, and afterwards it 
is too late to retrace the way which had been 
changed, to the true source of life, in order to be 
cleansed from the filth with which such person had 
been besmeared in the stinking puddle-holes." 



Chapter XIV. 

Indian Tribes on the Border. 

iHE year 1742 was an eventful year in the 
l^i^jlll life of Henry Antes. His efforts for the 
-j^2 -i" establishment of Christian unity had sep- 



arated him from his pastor and church, 
and had called down upon him the bitter reproaches 
of that pastor. It had led him to more and more 
become the ally of a new sect, but a sect more in 
harmony with the desires of his own heart. He had 
found a coterie of companions of exalted religious 
experience, highly intellectual qualifications, and 
unwearied zeal for the promulgation of their views. 
Zinzendorf, Spangenberg, Nitschman, Eschenbach, 
Weigner, Bohler and Antes, what a company this 
was ! Who can wonder that when together they 
were inspired with the loftiest desires for the well- 
being of their fellow-men ! Antes would not have 
severed his connection with the Reformed Church, 
but no other course was open to him, and he was 
thus led into the fold of these earnest Godly 
Moravians. All along the course of events we see 
how they honored him, and also how his influence 
aided them. In the Unity Conference in German- 
town, held March loth, i ith and 12th of this year 

152 




A DELAWARE INDIAN FAMILY. 



IS3 

(i 742) Antes was commissioned to make a thorough 
investigation of the wrongs done the Indians at 
Nazareth, and to remedy them. From this appoint- 
ment we conclude that he not only possessed the 
confidence of the Germans, who had settled at 
Bethlehem and Nazareth, but also of the Indians 
whose village occupied that same spot. Moreover 
it shows that he was familiar with the previous 
transactions, as indeed we have learned, from his 
guiding Whitefield to that locality in his purchase. 
It was essential that the Moravians should be on 
the most peaceful terms with the Indians, and it 
shows their great appreciation of the wisdom and 
the tact of Antes, to give him complete charge of 
so delicate a mission. From Gordon's history of 
Pennsylvania we learn how this same trouble was 
managed by the authorities of the Province. This 
was well enough for those who by force of arms 
could compel obedience, but with the Moravians, 
the Spirit of Christ prevailed, and the Indians were 
to be treated as brethren. 

Gordon says : " During the administration of 
Governor Thomas (1742) a convention of deputies 
from the Six Nations, and Delaware Indians, was 
held at Philadelphia, for the purpose of terminating 
some dispute which had arisen between the latter 
tribe and the proprietaries, relative to a cession of 
lancb,. A tract, lying in the Forks of the Delaware 
and Lehigh rivers, extending back into the woods 



154 

as far as a man can go in a day and a half, denom- 
inated the walking purchase, had been sold to 
William Penn by the Delawares in 1736, and con- 
firmed by the same tribe by their deed, dated 25th 
of August, 1 737. The lines of this purchase having 
been traced by very expert walkers, and, including 
more land than the hidians expected, increased the 
dissatisfaction which had prevailed among them in 
relation to the grant of 1736. The Indians com- 
plained that the walkers, who outstripped them, 
ran, and did not j^ursue the course of the river, as 
they anticipated. The chief, Nutimus, and others, 
who signed the treaty of 1737, refused to yield 
peacable possessions of these lands, and declared 
their intention to maintain themselves by force of 
arms. Under these circumstances, the proprietaries 
invoked the interposition of the Six Nations, whose 
authority over the Delawares w^as well known. 
Upon this invitation, a deputation of two hundred 
and thirty from these powerful tribes visited Phila- 
delphia^ w^here they were met by delegates from 
the Delawares, who had also been invited. Having 
heard the complaints of the Governor against the 
latter, for their retention of the purchased lands, 
and their misconduct, in writing rude and abusive 
letters to the proprietaries, Canassatago on the 
part of the Six Nations said to the Governor ' That 
the)- saw the Delawares had been an unruly people, 
and were altogether in the wrong : that they con- 



155 

eluded to remove them, and oblige them to go over 
the river Delaware (Lehigh) and quit all claims to 
any lands on this side for the future, since they had 
received pay for them, and it is gone through their 
guts long ago. They deserved to be taken by the 
hair of the head and shaken severely till they 
recovered their senses and became sober ; that he 
had seen with his eyes a deed signed by nine of 
their ancestors above fifty years ago for this very 
land (1686) and a release signed not many years 
since (1737) by some of themselves, and chiefs then 
living (Nutimus and Sassoonan then present) to the 
number of fifteen and upwards ; but how come you' 
continued he to the Delawares, ' to take upon you 
to sell lands at all ? We conquered you ; we made 
women of you ; you know you are women, and can 
no more sell land than women ; nor is it fit you 
should have the power of selling lands, since you 
would abuse it. This land that you claim has gone 
through your guts ; you have been furnished with 
clothes, meat, and drink, by the goods paid )-ou for 
it, and now you want it again, like children as you 
are. But what makes you sell lands in the dark ? 
Did you ever tell us you had sold this land ? Did 
we ever receive any part, even the value of a pipe 
shank, from you for it ? You have told us a blind 
story, that you sent a messenger to us, to inform us 
of the sale ; but he never came amongst us, nor did 
we ever hear anvthinaf about it. This is acting in 



156 

the dark, and not like the custom our Six Nations 
observe in the sale of lands. On such occasions, 
they give public notice, and invite all the Indians of 
their united nations, and give them all a share of 
the presents they receive for their lands. This is 
the behavior of the wise united nations. But we 
find you are none of our blood ; you act a dishonest 
part, not only in this, but in other matters ; your 
ears are ever open to slanderous reports about 
your brethren. For all these reasons, we charge 
yo7i to remove instantly ; we dont give yon liberty to 
think abottt it. You are women. Take the advice of 
a wise man and remove instantly. You may return 
to the other side of the Delaware (Lehigh), where 
you came from ; but we do not know whether, 
considering how you have demeaned yourselves, 
you will be permitted to live there, or whether you 
have not swallowed that land down your throats, 
as well as the land on this side. We, therefore, 
assign you two places to go to, either to Wyoming 
or Shamokin. You may go to either of these 
places, and then we shall have you more under our 
eye, and shall see how you behave. Don't deliber- 
ate, but remove away, and take this belt of wampum.' 
He then forbid them to intermeddle in land affairs, 
or ever thereafter pretend to sell any land ; and 
commanded them, as he had something to transact 
with the English, immediately to depart the council. 
The Delawares dared not disobey this peremptor}' 



157 

command. They immediately left the council, and 
soon after removed from the Forks ; some, it is 
said, went to Wyoming and Shamokin, and some 
to the Ohio." 

On the 27th of May of this year, there arrived 
in Philadelphia a colony of Moravians who had 
sailed from London on March c^th. It numbered 
fifty-six souls, and was the first " Sea Congregation" 
of the Moravians that went forth. They came on 
the snow " Catharine," and, as was to be expected 
on an ocean journey at that time of the year, when 
winds were high and icebergs floating on the seas, 
encountered many mishaps and passed through 
many dangers. It was a noble company, most of 
them being married couples. Several of them 
afterward became distinguished missionaries. The 
day after their arrival those of the passengers who 
were not British subjects or had not hitherto been 
in Pennsylvania, signed the customary obligation of 
fidelity to the King of Great Britain, and to the 
Proprietary of the Province and obedience to the 
laws, and then started on their journey toward 
Bethlehem, by the way of Henry Antes', whose 
house they reached at the close of the second day 
after leaving Philadelphia. 

Henry S. Dotterer beautifully says ; " In imagina- 
tion we see the emigrants on their toilsome journey, 
on that hot Summer's day. Some on horseback, 
some afoot ; clad in the heavy garments from beyond 



I5S 

sea ; bare-headed women and stalwart men bur- 
dened with household treasures; now, they take 
refuge from the sun's hot rays under the shade of 
a mighty tree of the forest ; then, they bathe their 
hands and faces in the cooling waters of the rippling 
stream. About the noonday hour they had crossed 
hills between the Skippack and the Perkiomen. 
Now they thread their way along the banks of the 
latter stream as far as the mouth of Swamp Creek. 
Here they turn to the left and take a westerly 
course, keeping close to the creek, for upon it is 
Antes' mill, their resting place for the night. To- 
wards evening of the second day when the shadows 
had lengthened, and the cool western breeze fanned 
their brows, as the sun was sinking behind the 
encompassing hills, the hour most grateful to the 
weary travellers, the haven was reached, the noisy 
mill was before them, the broad meadows of the 
plantation about them, and the doors of the hospit- 
able home stood wide open. And as darkness 
closed upon the scene, and the myriad voices of the 
night made melody, what heartfelt prayers ascended 
on high, and what blissful rest was there." 

How the soul of Antes must have been filled 
with delight as he welcomed these brethren in the 
Lord to his home, and songs and rejoicings, prayers 
and thanksgivings must have welled up sweeter 
and more full of soul than ever before. It was a 
ijlorlous hour for Antes and his home. 



159 

This was a busy year for ZInzendorf as he zeal- 
ousl)' upon every opportunity preached the gospel, 
attended conferences, traveled amongst the Indians, 
and visited the. principal villages of the new country. 
Antes, too, had his hands, as well as his heart full 
of work. For such a colony houses were needed ; 
for the carrying out the designs of Zinzendorf skill- 
ful workmen were required ; Bethlehem was to be 
established, and towns beyond were to be provided 
with mills to erind their frrain. With his own 

a 

hands — for he was a skillful mechanic — as well as 
with his money and advice. Antes assisted In building 
the grist mill and " Gemein Haus," In Bethlehem, 
both of these belnsf of log-s ; he also built a ofHst mill 
at Friedensthal (Valley of Peace), and a grist mill 
and saw mill at Gnaden hutten (Grace dwellings), 
Another piece of business committed to him was to 
receive the money from the sale of the vessel 
which brought the Moravians to Philadelphia after 
certain expenses were paid, and to expend it for 
cattle to stock and manure the Nazareth tract. As 
a business manager they considered him qualified 
to transact all kinds of affairs, even that which 
required the most unusual and important exercise 
of judgment. 

During this year an act was passed for the benefit 
of a certain class of citizens, which greatly helped 
the better class of German settlers In their rio-hts. 
It was the outcome of the desire at this time of all 



i6o 

parties in authority to secure the good will of the 
Germans. Prior to the act of 13 Geo. II., the law 
for the naturalization of persons settling in American 
colonies, required special bills for the naturalization 
of all aliens. This act provided that all persons 
residing seven years in the colonies^ taking an oath, 
or, if Quakers, an affirmation of allegiance and 
abjuration, and professing the Christian religion as 
prescribed by the act of the first of William and . 
Mary should be considered as natural born subjects. 
The Dunkards, Moravians, and Menists, now numer- 
ous in the Province, were excluded from the benefit 
of this act, by their scruples in regard to oaths. 
To remedy this the act was passed covering as 
follows, " An act for naturalizing such protestants 
as are settled, or shall settle within the Province, 
who, not being of the people called Quakers, do 
conscientiously refuse the taking of an oath," 

While this was being granted. Antes labored at 
Bethlehem. But in the midst of such labors the 
spiritual work was not neglected, hi the closing 
Unity Conference it had been decided to hold 
quarterly conferences, and now, towards the end of 
September, the first of these was held at his house. 
It was attended by Rev. Peter Bohler, who had 
come with the colon}' in July. It was probably at 
this conference that Antes announced the contem- 
plated departure of Zinzendorf for Europe in a 
short time, and his desire to make a preaching tour 



i6i 

to the principal centres of population before that 
time. In this tour Zinzendorf preached at Falkner 
Swamp (doubtless at the house of Antes), on the 
seventh of December, from the text, Psalms 130: 
3 — " If thou, Lord, should'st mark iniquities, O, 
Lord, who shall stand ?" One month and two days 
from this time, on January 9th, 1743, Zinzendorf 
sailed from New York to Eno-jand. But his eoinsf 
was of the deepest interest to Antes, who sent with 
him his loved dauMiter in order that she miofht 
have the advantages of a better and more christian 
education than could be obtained in the Province. 

What a trial this must have been. Anna Mar- 
garetta, Antes' second daughter, was only fourteen 
years of age. She was a child of great natural 
talent and received much attention from the Mora- 
vian leaders, as was seen in the way in Avhich she 
held the position given her in her maturer years. 
She was now sent to the Moravian school in Lon- 
don to complete her education. There in after 
)'ears she became the wife of the Moravian preacher, 
Rev. Benjamin Latrobe, and one year after her 
marriage, 1767, became the mother of one, who 
was the architect of that part of the Capitol of the 
United. States, at Washington, built previous to 
1817, that is, he designed the central building, the 
wings being afterward added, they being the work 
of Thomas U. Walters. 

How interestin<j that v/hen the orovernment of 



1G2 

the United States desired to build its Capitol, it 
should secure as architect the orandson of the 
mechanic who was the builder of the plain log mills 
and houses of Bethlehem. The year following the 
departure of his daughter and the Count, Antes 
spent in ministering to the Moravians dwelling in 
Oley, a few miles from his home. This year was 
made memorable by a production that must have 
filled the heart of the preacher with deepest jo)'. 
That was the printing of a German Bible. 

In Germantown the Germans had established a 
printing house, and as early as 1738 published 
almanacs, school books, and various kinds of 
religious works. In 1739 Christopher Sower com- 
menced his HocJl DeiUsch PcmisyhaniscJic Geschich- 
ies schreiber, the first newspaper printed in the 
Province of Pennsylvania. The almanac printed 
in 1738 in both size and matter was far superior 
to those that had preceded it in English. But 
now a great adv'ance was made by Mr. Sower 
in printing a magnificent edition of i 200 copies 
of the Bible, each containing 1,284 qi-i^rto pages. 
This preceded the publication of an English Bible 
in Philadelphia by thirty-seven years. This Bible 
was thoroughly the work of Germans. The\- 
made the ink, cast the type, made the paper. 
did the binding, and paid all the e.xpense of the ^ 
work, and then stood by the brave printer b\- 
purchasing the copies, which he printed, so that 



iD3 

within twenty years a second and larger edition 
was necessary. Antes could now go on in his 
work with the power of the printing press within 
the reach of his people, and that press dedicated to 
the service of God. 




Chaitek XV. 

Moravian Schools and Education. 

;HE year i 743 was spent by Antes in earnest 
work among- a peaceful people, while in 
^J^^0i Philadelphia the Assembly was carrying; 
^^ :^ its point in opposition to the Governor by 
starxinL," him out. and they only consented to pay 
his salary when he submitted, at least partially, to 
their will. Antes seems to have spent a quiet year 
also in i 744, during which he presided at a synod 
held in '.vhat is now North Heidleberg towmship, in 
November, and on the 4th of that same month 
attended tlic dedication of a i\Iora\'ian Church built 
the preceding Summer. But this year was one of 
trouble to the Province, for a masked and indirect 
war had been for some time carried on between 
P^rance and Great Britain, and hostilities were 
openly dec!ar(jd by the former on the 2odi, and by 
tlie latter on tjie 31st of March. At this time Phil- 
adelphia was supposed to have at least 1,500 houses 
and 13,000 inhabitants. "On June i ith war 
against PVance was formally proclaimed at the 
court house by the Governor, Mayor, and Corpor- 
ation. The Governor, by proclamation, ordered 

every one capable of bearing arms to provide him- 

164 



i6s 

self with firelock, bayonet, cartouche box, and pow- 
der and ball enouorh to defend the Province and 

o 

annoy the enemy. When the Assembly met all 
talk took a martial guise, and the Governor put 
many puzzling questions to a legislative body in 
which the Quakers were a majority. He recounted 
the insolence of a French privateer, the captain of 
which sent a message from the Capes to the effect 
that he knew Philadelphia too well to be afraid they 
would send to pursue him, and announcing that he 
meant to stay there two weeks longer. The 
Assembly, however, said nothing, and the Corpora- 
tion Council petitioned the king to consider and 
relieve the defenceless condition of the city, exposed 
to attack from its position on the sea-board, and 
undefended in consequence of the religious scruples 
of the inhabitants. The people, however, were not 
so peaceful as the Assembly. The streets were 
picturesque with war scenes. Troops were recruit- 
ing for several expeditions, and the privateersmen 
beat up the town for volunteers." 

"The exertions of Franklin at this time contri- 
buted greatly to the security of the Province, and 
to the preservation of harmony between the execu- 
tive and Assembly. He published a pamphlet 
entitled ' Plain Truth,' exhlbitino; in stronof llorhts the 
helpless state of the Province, and the necessity of 
union and discipline. Calling a meeting of the 
citizens, he laid before them a plan for a military 



1 66 

association ; i , 200 signatures were immediately pro- 
cured, and the volunteers soon amounted to 10,000, 
armed at their own expense, and officered by their 
own choice. This tract was published also in 
German, and the first company fully organized was 
a company of Germans. Franklin was chosen 
colonel of the Philadelphia regiment, but, declining 
the service, Alderman Lawrence was elected on 
his recommendation. By Franklin's means, also, a 
battery was erected below the city, from funds raised 
by lotter)-, in which Logan and many other Quakers 
were adventurers. Logan, who was not scrupulous 
in relation to defensive war, directed whatever 
prizes he might draw should be applied to the ser- 
vice of the battery. These military preparations 
were necessary to intimidate a foreign enemy, and 
to curb the hostile disposition of the hidians, which 
had been awakened by several unpleasant recontres 
with the whites." 

It was thoroughly essential at this time to keep 
on the best of terms with the Indians, and no 
measures were left untried to take from them all 
cause of complaint. At this time (i 745) the French 
were tampering with the Six Nations, whom they 
Avould have liked to see putting on the war paint 
and murdering the settlers In the frontier, but the 
Six Nations had no desire to do so, and remained 
neutral, but the suspicion that they might be aroused,, 
created terror in the Province. 



16/ 

In the midst of these alarms Henry Antes pro- 
ceeded with his work, holding the confidence of all 
who knew him. January 8th of this year his sixth 
son was born, whom he named Joseph. During 
the Spring of this year he attended a large church 
council at Muddy Creek. On the second week in 
March, the Moravian Synod held their session in 
his house. At this session the question of educa- 
tion assumed a prominent place, and as a result of 
their deliberations. Antes made the remarkable 
sacrifice of oft'ering his house, plantation, mill, and 
buildings for the use of the Brethren as a boarding 
school for boys. The offer was accepted at once, 
and on the 3d of the following June the school was 
opened. Christopher and Christina Francke, of 
Bethlehem, were placed in charge of the under- 
taking ; a tutor, and manager of the farm and 
mill — which were to be worked for the benefit of 
the institution — were ajDpointed. Twenty-three 
pupils were brought from Bethlehem and Nazareth, 
and eleven others entered in 1745. Among the 
pupils the first year were white boys from New 
York, Philadelphia, and various places in Pennsyl- 
vania, a Mohegan Indian and a negro from St. 
Thomas. In the years following a number more 
of Indians and neofroes were tausfht in this school. 
Having thus given up his property to the use of the 
Brethren, Henry Antes removed his household — 
except his two sons left In the school — to Bethlehem, 



1 68 

in order that he might devote his entire time to u:e 
service of the growing communit)'. 

On December 15th, 1745, he was appointed a 
justice of the peace for Bucks county. This appoint- 
ment was renewed in 1749, and in 1752, having 
returned to Philadelphia county (now Montgomery 
county), he was again appointed to this office ; so that 
from the time of his appointment until his death. 
he served on the board of justices of the Province. 
During the colonial period the justices were ap- 
pointed by the governors, or the lieutenant-gov- 
ernor, and they were therefore supposed to be 
known as men well qualified for such honorable 
positions, and yet they were not always supposed 
to be versed in legal lore. The profession of the 
law was not held in as high honor as it is to-d:iy. 
But the justice was held In much higher honor. A 
justice was a very important personage, and to him 
was committed a supervision of public affairs that 
embraced what is now given to a number of ofliclals, 
"They were to keep the peace within tliclr jurisdic- 
tion, and to keep and cause to be kept all ordinances 
and statutes, for the good of the peace, and for the 
preservation of the same, and for the quiet rule 
and governnient of our people. To chastise and 
punish all persons that offend against the ordi- 
nances and statutes, such as all manner of felonies, 
poisonings, inchantments, sorceries, and magick, 
trespasses, forestallings, regratings, ingrossings, and 



169 

sorceries whatsoever. * * And als ) of 

all those who, in companies against our peace, in 
disturbance of our people, with armed force have 
gone or rode, or hereafter shall presume to go or 
ride ; and also of all those who have lain in wait, 
or hereafter shall presume to lay in wait, to maim 
or cut or kill our people, and also of all victuallers 
and all other persons who in the abuse of weigh.ts 
and measures, or in sellinof victuals against tnc 
form of the ordinance, &c., &c." 

The minute nature of their supervision can be 
understood from this law^ ; " Whereas, it has been 
the practice of tavern keepers, ale house keepers, 
inn-holders to exact excessive rates for their beer, 
c\der, and other liquors, and also provender for 
horses without regard to the plenty or cheapness 
thereof; be it therefore enacted that the justices of 
the peace of the respective counties of this Province, 
shall have full power four times in the year, to wit : 
at the general sessions of the peace, held for the 
said counties respectively, to set such reasonable 
prices in all liquors retailed in public houses, and 
provender for horses in public stables from time to 
time as they shall see fit ; which prices shall be pro- 
clainied by the cryer at the conclusion of their said 
respective sessions and fixed upon the court house 
doors for public view." 

Court was held by the body of the justices of the 
county, the senior in office being the presiding 



I/O 



judge. They were supposed to be competent fjr 
their duties, hence an appeal would be a rare event. 
In all the Province who was better qualified for this 
position than Henry Antes, w^ho by his associations 
with others knew every Indian trail, and had 
watched the settlements as they grew and changed 
under the labor of the neighbors to whom he had 
proclaimed the eternal righteousness, of Christ ? 

In these early times it was no sinecure, misunder- 
standings in regard to titles and boundaries were 
sure to rise, and it required a level judgment to 
discern the right of the case. But, moreover, if we 
accept the general view of the nature of the inllock- 
ing population, there must have been need for strict 
watchfulness that the worthless, idle, and dishonest 
among them should be repressed, and by the fear 
of the law be kept from violating its precepts. 

At this time the justices were often engaged m 
trying cases produced by disputes and conflicts 
along the rivers. This was particularl)- the case on 
the Schuylkill River. Those who li\-ed along the 
shore built racks, wears or dams which seriously 
interfered with navigation, for the people who lived 
In the regions above the river, and in the outer 
settlements loaded their canoes with vvheat and 
thus brought It to the market in Philadelphia. Some 
of these canoes were of immense size, and as a 
canoe was made of a slnijle lo"', it is an evidence of 
the size of the timber then q-rowlnir alon^r the 



I/I 

rivers. One canoe injured by a fish rack was 
ladened with one hundred and forty bushels of 
wheat, William Penn tells of a canoe that was 
made from a poplar tree which carried four tons of 
bricks. At length the contests between the settlers 
along the shore who built the fish racks, etc., and 
the farmers who brought their produce down in 
canoes became so bitter that the canoes came down 
in fleets — what an imposing sight that must have 
been ! and by the number of men with them defied 
the shore men. In this way they destroyed many 
racks, but the shore men also congregated in crowds, 
and whenever a canoe was caught in a rack, stoned 
the occupants and endeavored to destroy the canoe. 
For ten years this continued until by a proclama- 
tion of James Logan, the sheriffs of the counties 
along the Schuylkill were commanded to suppress 
the racks, etc., and free the river for navigation. 
While Antes was a justice in Philadelphia county 
he more or less came in contact with these river 
troubles, for it required many years to secure the 
freedom of the river. ■ 

This same year 1746 Frederick Antes, Henry's 
father, died and was buried on his farm in New 
Hanover township. It was only the year before 
that William Dewees, the father of Henry's wife, 
died and was buried in Germantown, Both lived 
to see the beginning of the greatness of their 
beloved son. 




CiiAPrKk X\'I. 

Henry Antes Labors for the Jloravia;!::. 

HE year 1746 was also full of imporLint 
incidents to Henry Antes. In April he 
became one ot the trustees of the Mora- 
vian Church property on Sassafras (Race) 
street, above Second, in Philadelphia. In July his 
heart was made glad by once more meeting the 
eloquent Whitefield, and taking him with his retinue 
to visit the Moravian settlements. Starting from 
Bethlehem, they proceeded to Nazareth, where 
Whitefield had so fondly hoped to establish a school, 
and now had the pleasure of seeing a flourishing 
school in the best of hands, then they passed over 
to Gnadenthal, and returned to Bethlehem. The 
five years since these two great men had met had 
been full of changes and stirring events for both, 
but their zeal had not relaxed, and their love for the 
Lord knew no waning. 

In less than a month after this delightful visit, 
Antes' house was touched with the cloud of afflic- 
tion, but his house was not alone. In the Spring 
and Summer of this year an epidemic disease of 
great malignity raged through New England, New 
York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; Dr. John 
Kearsley called it the angina maligna, or putrid 

172 



^71 

sore throat, the traits of the disease as described 
being similar to those of diphtheria. Its epidemic 
character was supposed to be due to atmospheric 
causes. The science of medicine at that day was 
entirely unable to cope with it, and such practice at 
this day would be considered barbarous and destruc- 
tive. They sought to destroy the disease by blood- 
letting and the use of mercurials, but the disease 
spread so rapidly that many villages were almost 
depopulated. It was while this scourge was raging 
that death entered the house of Antes and took 
their youngest, their babe. This was the second 
time death had entered his fold. 

It was during this year and the year following 
that the merchant service on the seas was so greatly 
hindered by privateersmen. While the English 
preyed on the French and Spanish, the French and 
Spanish preyed on the English, A privateer from 
Philadelphia was captured by the enemy and several 
French privateers entered Delaware Bay. Great 
excitement was caused by these events, and the 
entire Province was in a state of constant alarm. 
The French and Eno^lish were both endeavoring to 

<z> o 

win the assistance of the formidable Six Nations 
against the other, and this too caused a great sensi- 
tiveness as to what ever was done affecting the 
loyalty of the Indians toward the English. 

Just at this juncture, some enemy of the Mora- 
vians spread the report that they were in league 



willi the French and Indians, and diat the Gemein 
Haus at Bethlehem was used as an arsenal in 
which they had stored three thousand stand ot 
arms, for the use of the Indians, who should join 
the French in making inroads into Pennsylvania. 
Such a report w^ould naturally arouse great feeling, 
and this with the accompanying suspicion, would 
be intensified, because of the mystery in\'olvcd in 
the customs of the Moravians, and their peculiar 
family arrangements so far off in the wilderness as 
the Forks of the Delaware. The consequence v/as 
that an investigation was ordered, and the examining 
council met at Newtown in Bucks county, Pennsyl- 
vania. Henry Antes appeared as the deputy and 
defender of the Moravians. There was a large 
assembly, and their interest was riveted upon Antes 
when he arose to speak. A large, noble looking 
man, fully appreciating the importance of the occa- 
sion, a justice of the Province, a Moravian preacher, 
in the very prime of life, thoroughly acquainted 
with hidian affairs, with his work and influence 
stretching from Philadelphia to the Blue Mountains, 
having the confidence of the officers of the Province 
and of the Indians, he w^as one to whom they w^ould 
naturally listen, and with the more respect because 
he earned his living entirely aside from his public 
posidons. He was a miller and a farmer, and in full 
sympathy with the settlers who w^ere making their 
homes in the wilderness by daily, strenuous toil. 



175 

What he said we do not know, but the result was 
he proved the entire innocence of the Moravians, 
and fastened the crime of perjury upon the accuser, 
upon whom a heavy fine was imposed. Then 
another feature of the deputy's character appeared. 
He pleaded for the pardon of the perjurer until the 
fine was remitted, and then turned to the large 
assembly and bore a prompt testimony concerning 
Jesu^ Christ our Savior, and as a preacher of the 
Gospel urged them to make their peace with God 
through Jesus. Thus he turned this occasion of 
false accusation into a great victory for the truth. 

The following year, he and his wife united with 
the Moravian family near Gnadenthal, probably at 
this time building the mill for them, and establishing 
them upon a firm foundation. What beautiful 
names the Moravians gave their towns, how re- 
freshing to their wearied souls must have sounded 
the name Gnadenthal (valley of grace), and how 
all of these names must have encouraged the hearts 
of the Brethren in Europe as they so longingly 
turned their eyes toward America. 

In 1748 they returned to Bethlehem to live, and 
at once became members of that Economy again. 
At this time the highway between Philadelphia and 
the MInisink valley, and thence onto the north-west 
part of the Province of New York passed through 
Bethlehem and the wind gap of the Blue Moun- 
tains. The west branch of the Delaware — now the 



176 

LehiQ^h — was wide and difficult to cross w'nen the 
stream was full, and the only way of crossing was 
by small boats owned by individuals, or fording. 
In this year on the i8th of February, the Proprie- 
taries granted Henry Antes license to construct a 
ferry, to be used for seven )'ears for the use of the 
Brethren. This ferry carried all the people — 
Indians, settlers, and travelers who passed along 
that prominent route. It Avas the one great ferry 
on the Lehigh, toward which the forest paths neces- 
sarily converged. 

On the 29th of May, the Snow Irene, built on 
Staten Island, was launched and registered in Henry 
Antes' name. This was a vessel equipped with two 
masts resembling the main and fore-masts of a ship, 
and a third small mast just abaft the main-mast 
carrying a tr)-sail. Henry Antes accordingly went 
to New York for the purpose of attending this 
launch, for the ship building interests of the Mora- 
\ians Vv'ere of considerable importance. It was 
difficult at that early time to give proper care to 
emi^rrants in comingf to the colonies, there were so 
many land sharks to deceive and take ad\-antage of 
the io-norance of the emii^rants. But the Moravians 
sought to remedy this by owning and working their 
own line of vessels, and this vessel was one of the 
number. So that we see Henr)- Antes was more 
than a Provincial man, he was an international 
worker for justice. We can imagine the interest 



177 

his visit must have caused in the city of less than 
30,000 inhabitants, which was strugghng to possess 
the shipping trade of the continent. For as the 
business manager of the ardent Moravians he would 
appear in the city of business as the all important 
personage. 

On the 1 6th of September of this year, he 
records, "To-day a litde daughter was bjrn to me 
in Bethlehem, about two o'clock in the morning. I 
named her Benipna. On this day she was bantized 
into the family of God ; May the slain Lamlj receive 
and retain her at his open wounded side." Benigna 
was the name of the wife of Count Zinzendorf, and 
thus we learn she must have niade a very favorable 
impression on the mind of Antes. This was his 
eleventh and last child. When only twelve years 
of age she died at Bethlehem and her Savior 
received her. 

On the 27th of October Antes received another 
mark of the confidence of the Brethren by being 
appointed Consenior Civilis or business manager of 
the Moravian establishment at Bethlehem, requiring 
him to take the legal care of all the property,. and 
the outward temporal affairs of the community. 
How well he was fitted for this office. He was a 
citizen possessing all the civil rights of any citizen 
of the Province; the justice of that section, and 
fully acquainted with all the legal duties required ; 
^ ;rian of wealth and thus able to assume the respon- 



178 

sibility for the welfare of that committed to his trust ; 
and in thorough sympathy with the Brethren, liis 
heart was also enlisted in their favor. What more 
could they expect of an officer ? 

Now he buys property, erects buildings, enters 
into contracts, devises plans, appears before the 
p-overnment of the Province, in fact does all their 
business in his own name, and yet it was all their 
own. Never was there the least insinuation of the 
wrong use of even a penny, his trust was sacred. 
As an indication of the manner in which Ik; labored 
we learn on November iith of this year, in com- 
pany with Bishop Spangenberg and John W'atte- 
ville, he proceeds to Nazareth to examine the 
building known as the " Stone House," to see if it 
would afford suitable accommodations for the infants 
of the church, who at this time were collected 
together in the Nursery at -Bethlehem. It was 
found to be suitable and on the 7th of January of 
the following year the infants were removed to the 
" Stone House." It was as Superintendent of the 
Single Sisters and Girls at Nazareth and Bethlehem 
that Ann Catharine, his eldest child, spent several 
years of her useful life. 

It was during this same year that there appeared 
another evidence of the labor and zeal of the Ger- 
mans for the religion so dear to their hearts. This, 
however, was not by the Moravians, but by the 
Dunkard Brethren at Ephrata. It was the transla- 



1/9 

tion and publication of Van Braght's Bhitigx Schau- 
platz oder Marty iter Spiegel from the Dutch. It 
was a wonderful undertaking, 1 500 pages (folios), 
and in magnitude exceeded all works previously 
published in this country. Its subject was " The 
Persecution of the Christians from the Time of 
Christ to the Year 1660." In order to produce it 
fifteen men labored on it, giving all their time to it, 
for three years. To possess such a work must 
have stirred the heart of every German who loved 
the history of his martyr ancestors, and the accom- 
plishment of so great a work made a profound 
impression upon the mind of Franklin, the philoso- 
pher, statesman, and editor, who fully realized the 
nature of such an undertaking. German persis- 
tence and endurance in the line of their convictioHj 
and for their rcliq^ion v/rn unsurpassed. 




Chafier XVII. 

Separation from the Moravians. Return to his Home in 
Frederick. Appointed Justice in Philadelphia County. 
His Trip to Nortli Carolina. 

'AVING thus far traced the course of the 
life of this prominent man, we have found 
him to be endowed with such faculties as 
well fitted him for an adviser and a leader 
of the people. With a great heart, loving his 
friends intensely, but his Lord and Savior more, 
ready to make any amount of personal sacrifice in 
order to serve his Master and his fellow men, and 
in the midst of all manner of opportunities for self 
aggrandizement, keeping himself unspotted frorti 
the world. As we see him the loving companion 
of Spangenberg, of Nitschman, of Zeisberger, men 
of purest character and indisputable zeal for the 
Lord, we naturally think that nothing but death 
could sever such strong and reciprocated ties, and 
yet, strange as it may seem, there was a severance 
of the ties that bound them — not the ties of friend- 
ship, but the ties of fellowship in the work of the 
Lord — and the severance was sharp, emphatic, and 
irreversible. It sorely grieved the hearts of all 
parties, and yet for conscience sake. Antes felt that 
he could not return to the fold he had done so 

I So 



t8i 

much to establish. He allowed his children to 
lollovv^ the dictates of their own conscience. Some 
of them remained with the Moravians, &nd some 
went with the Reformed Church. 

John Philip Boehm, his former pastor in the 
Reformed Church, had died a year before, and to 
no other minister of that church could Antes turn 
for comfort in this hour of trial. Possibly all looked 
lark about him. Things were so different from 
the days of his youth. The aim of his life seemed 
to be more distant than ever. Failure seemed to 
mark all that he had done for the unification of his 
Christian brethren in the German churches. And 
yet, so strong\vere his convictions, so lofty was his 
ideal, so 'earnest were his hopes, that he swerved 
not a hair's breadth from the line of his convictions 
iS to the true life. He might die with failure 
nenacing all his plans, but some time or other God 
would bring it to pass. He would rest in hope that 
all the children of God will sometime dwell together 
in harmony, peace and love, and there will be 
no sects, but the world will see an undivided and 
resistless church. The account of the separation 
from the Brethren is very short. "In April, 1750, 
the Moravians at Bethlehem introduced the wearine 
jf the white robe or surplice by the ministe'r, 
at the celebration of the Eucharist. Henry Antes 
disapproved of this, and withdrew from their 
communion." 



I82 

Many will say it was a small thing to cause so great 
a trouble — perhaps to them it might be small — 
a bullet riddled flag of the PennsyK-ania Reserves 
would be a small affair to a citizen of London, but 
not to that recximent in the field of battle. The 
surplice was a great affair because of what it repre- 
sented. To those ambitious Moravians it meant an 
additional attraction in their worship, while to Antes 
it would detract from their spiritual wor!?hip of 
God ; to them it meant the elevation of the min- 
istry to a position of more appreciation or reverence, 
to Antes it made the ministry a sacerdotal class, and 
no longer merely the Brethren ; to them it meant 
the establishment of a .symbol which would add to 
the significance of the ordinance, to Ante.s' it was a 
violation of the spirituality and simplicity of the 
Moravian worship which was to be the foundation 
for universal christian union, and by adding to the 
ordinance took away what properly belonged 
thereto ; to them it was an improvement coming 
with the spirit of culture and success which had 
blest them, and a return to the custom observed in 
Europe since 1457, while to Antes it was the 
destruction of the object of their union adapted to 
the free life in the Province, and a surrenderino; to 
the spirit of die world, which beginning in this small 
way, would widen until the Unitas Frat'ntm would 
in no ways . be superior to the denominations of 
christians about them but like them be made useless 



1^3 

b)' over-spreading formalism. No ! He could not 
approve of it. It demanded his most intense oppo- 
sition, and this could best be manifested by his 
withdrawal from their community. He announced 
his intention, no compromise could be made, and 
the preparations for his departure from Bethlehem 
\vere at once begun. 

Thus once more for conscience sake he gives up 
his home, his beloved companions, and his position 
as Conse7isior Civilis. What changes it also made 
In the school at his home in Frederick. The school 
was broken up, the scholars were transferred to 
other* schools, and with his family Antes returned 
to his farm and his mill to lament the estrangement 
from the Brethren and do what lay nearest his 
hand. But so valuable a man could not be allowed 
to remain idle, and on May 25th, 1752,116 was 
appointed justice of the peace in Philadelphia 
county, of which county at this time Frederick 
township was a part. What pleasure it must have 
^iven his old friends to receive him amongst them 
once more. In a new settlement like that a few 
years would make a great change in the appear- 
ince of thintrs, out Antes w^as not a strano-er to 
tiiese changes. 

It was only about twenty-five miles from Bethle- 
l.em to his home, and was almost one neig^hborhood 
in those days when miles were so little thought of, 
and as Moravians dwelt all through that section, his 



1 84 

position as manager would have kept him in con- 
tinued communication with them all. And this too 
would enable them to frequently visit each other, 
but we do not know that any such visits took place. 
The feelings were too deeply lacerated, but at 
length a break occurred, and the story of it with its 
results is given in the following account by his son. 
the missionary John Antes, who after the breach 
continued as before devotedly attached to the 
IMoravian Church. 

*" Towards the close of the year 1 752, a proposal 
was made to Brother Spangenberg that in com- 
pany with some of the Brethren of a business taQt, 
he should select and have surveyed land in North 
Carolina which the Brethren had bought for the 
purpose. In the Life of Spangenberg, an account 
of the journey is given. The company consisted 
of Bishop Spangenberg, Henry Antes, Timothy- 
jflorsefield, Joseph IMiller, Herman Locsch and 
John Merk," 

The account is as follows; f On the 25th of 
August, 1752, they entered upon the long, tediou^ 
and dangerous journey. They made their way 
through Virginia to the town of Edenton in North 
Carolina, and there consulted with the agent of 
Lord Granville (the owner of the land). They 
arrived here in safety and good health on the 10th 

^Translated from the German by II. S. Doltercr. 
fTranslated by U. S. Dotterer. 



1^5 

of September, having had thus far good roads 
and pleasant weather for traveling ; although now 
and then there had been scarcity of food for their 
horses, and all their necessaries had generally cost 
them high prices. From Edenton, taking with 
them the surveyor of the Province, they journeyed 
toward the Catawba river. On the way they visited 
the indian town of the Tuscaroras, by whom they 
were received in a friendly manner. They pro- 
ceeded farther, and on the 21st came to a house in 
which they were greeted with a loving welcome. 
Here all the Brethren except one, were prostrated 
by fever, which compelled them to halt an entire 
week. As soon as they were somewhat improved 
they continued their journey. Spangenberg was 
yet extremely weak, and they had scarcely pro- 
ceeded a mile when he fainted, so that the Brethren 
had to lead him to the next house, where with one 
brother he remained over night, the other members 
of the company, on account of scarcity of room, 
being obliged to return to their former stopping 
place. The next morning he. wrote them they 
should come; the Savior would certainly grant lia:- 
the requisite strength. The beloved man was, 
however, so weak that he had to be lifted from his 
horse a number of times to recline upon the ground ; 
when he had rested somewhat, they assisted him 
agriin upon his horse. In this way with much diffi- 
-culty they reached the hon- - nfan English acquain- 



i86 

tance where they left a Brother (Horsefield) whom, 
the fever would not leave, with another (Ivliller) as 
attendant. Spangenberg with the three remaining 
Brethren, continued the journey, and took, besides 
the surveyor, two hunters, partly to carry the sur- 
veyor's chains and partly to shoot game for them in 
the forests. The)' now gradually improved in 
health from day to day, as he had foreseen, and 
they arrived during- the last half of October in good 
condition in a somewhat populated neighborhood 
on the Catawba River, about two hundred and forty 
miles from Edenton. Up to this time they had at 
least met a house at the close of every day, in wliich 
to quarter for the night, but now their course lay 
through a trackless wilderness, in which they were 
to select and survey the land. They provided 
themselves here with a fourteen days' suppU' oi 
provisions, for that they should have to spend four- 
teen weeks in this forest region, not one supposed. 
On the second of November they proceeded 
farther, with the words of the 107th Psalm in their 
minds and on their lips. ' They wandered in the 
vvilderness in a solitary way ; they found no city to 
dwell in. Hungry and thirsty their soul fainted in 
them. Then they cried unto the Lord in their 
trouble, and he relieved them out of their distresses. 
■ And he led them forth by the right way, that they 
might go to a city of habitation.' They soon found 
a oood tract of land, but consumed five davs in 



i«7 

surveying one thousand acres ; for the streams 
which ran through it were so deep that they could 
neither descend nor ascend the high steep banks, 
and in order to get across they had first to seek a 
path made by buffaloes ; and although they were 
frequently . obliged to use such paths, yet great 
caution was necessary because they occasionally led 
into deep marshes. The farther they proceeded 
with the survey, the more perilous became the v/ork ; 
the Winter came upon them, and they were obliged 
to spend the nights in their tents. In going accord- 
ing to the compass they soon came to thick, almost 
impenetrable forests ; now they had fearful precip- 
itous mountains to ascend and descend, and this 
continued for about forty miles. Now the men 
often relieved the horses of the weight of the effects 
and implements, and themselves carried these 
burdens up the mountains beside dangerous preci- 
pices. 

"On the 29th of November,' says their journal, 
• wc encamped in a neighborhood to which perhaps 
from the creation of the world no human beino- had 
come ; upon fearful mountains, where neither track 
nor path was to be seen. Yet are we, praised be 
God, all well, hearty, contented and thankful for 
our Heavenly Father's care and keeping, and for 
the company of the holy angels who thus far have 
attended us and our people, of which we have 
ample evidence.' 



i8t^ 

" At last they could no longer us'c- the compass, 
inasmuch as the)- came to a stream whose course 
they must follow, whicli liowever led them so far 
into the mountains tliat even the hunter^, who were 
to be their ouides, b^^came discouraged, and gave 
up the hope of getting (ur of iUcm again. Their 
supply of bread, notwith..-.t.and;ng tiie small allov.-- 
ance dealt out, towards the I'd^l, was now ex'nausted, 
and they subsisted enrirel)- upon j^ame, which the 
hunters from time to time secured in the forest. 
It even came at one time to this that they could 
find no food for tlieir horses, and tiiat they them- 
selves had been the third day without anything 
to eat. A fresh stream v.mich the\' followed led 
them at last into a grassy spot, and the hunters 
killed two stags. Here was joy ! They now 
recovered their spirits, and they came toward the 
end of December, to the Yadkin. Upon the oppo- 
site side of the river they saw white people, who 
called to them and offered them shelter. In another 
day they succeeded in crossing the water, although 
no: without risk, remained several clays with these 
people, and satisfied their hunger. One of the 
'nhabitants brought them to the vicinity where now 
^Vachovia lies. Here they found what they sought, 
rhey were directed to the tract they had previously 
surveyed, and the\' nc^w took up the ioo,ooo*acres. 
On tlK? 13th of January, 1753, they completed the 
5ur\-e\-s. Althoi '-h this occurred in the middle of 



i6g 

Winter, in a snow of considerable depth, and they 
encamped all the time in the woods, yet they were 
well and in good spirits (under the care and guar- 
dianship of, their dear Lord). On the 12th of 
Tebruary they returned to Bethlehem." 

This was Henry Antes' last act In the service of 
tlie Moravians, for whom he had done so much, and 
vvhom he loved so devotedly, and it was a service 
which hastened the close of his useful life. Althoucrh 
in his prime he w^as a strong and hearty man, the 
severity of his labors, the privations he had endured 
in the wilderness, and accidents suffered in the per- 
formance of his work, with the weight of the 
responsibility of the trust he upheld, broke down 
his strong constitution, and shortened his valuable 
life. 



CllAriER X\'ill. 
The Ljiidun ScJiool Movement. 

r^ScilHE year 1754 saw the beginning of a nv.w ' 
^Sellt- work promising the greatest advantai^es 
^s^^^ to the future intiuence and well-beinir of 

'^S'^^ the German setders. Thus far they had 

been constantly looked upon with suspicion by the 

Enolish in Philadelphia. Although at all times we 

find that Antes, their defender, was held b)^ the 

Encrlish authorities in the greatest confidence and 

respect, as he stood as a shield for his weaker 

Brethren. But Antes could enter into speech and 

correspondence with the English, while the most of 

his fellow Germans could not, and in this inability 

appeared their disadvantage. The tenacity with 

which they held to their mother tongue, did indeed 

seem like the establishing of a foreign community 

in the new State, and was, and would be contrary 

to the expectations of the Founder, and in order to 

have that political unity, which could alone make 

the Province powerful, the people must be one in 

speech and customs, as well as in the desire for 

personal liberty. The tenacity of the Germans for 

their own ways and speech seemed to blind them to 

this fact, but already such observing broad-minded 

men as Antes plainly discerned the case. Tlu-y 

190 



191 

■saw that the Germans for self protection and future 
usefulness must learn English. In Philadelphia two 
days of the week were market days, and once a 
}ear the Provincial Fair, in imitation of the old 
English Fairs was, held. This Fair day was gener- 
ally used as a holiday and was given to hireing 
help, making bargains, and having a good time 
generally. Because of their agricultural occupa- 
tions the Germans were largely drawn to these, 
and in bargaining English was a necessity. 

Just at this time another influence was brought 
to bear on this subject. A company was formed 
in London for the purpose of establishing English 
:schools amonof the Germans, and the dissemination 
-of the gospel to them in that tongue. The impor- 
tance of that movement can be appreciated when 
we remember that while the older ones would 
never learn the strange language, their children, 
Leing surrounded with English speech and customs, 
would necessarily learn it, or if not, they would not 
be able to sustain themselves in society or in 
business, and, as the new language replaced the old, 
unless churches were formed for them, and the 
gospel preached to them in English, they would 
drift into other communions, or out of a religions 
life because of their dislike of the more primitive 
language. This same battle is fought over and 
over again in every land where this transition 
occurs, and in nearly all cases the breach becomes 



192 

the wider because of the refusal of the parents to 
accept the Inevitable for the sake of their children. 

Henry Melchior Muhlenberg was the instrument 
in the hands of the London Society to advance tliis ' 
work. Let us look at his career for a moment. 
He was one of the followers of the Pietistic move- 
ment in Germany, although not a Pietist in the 
strict sense of placing his evangelism above church 
relations. He was a great churchman and was 
sent to America in 1742 to gather the Lutherans 
Into folds and shepherd them. His energy knew 
no cessation ; he, like a skillful o-eneral, o^rasoed 
the whole country, and sought to bring it under his 
control. When he came to the neiohborhood 
w^here Antes lived, in New Hanover, he found one 
hundred communicants of his denomination wor- 
shipping in a log meeting house. He was met 
by considerable opposition froni self-constituted 
preachers, but by his tact and eloquence overcame 
all their influences, and at once pushed the work 
forward with ever-increasing strength. With Muh- 
lenberg and Antes there were many strong ties, as 
aside from their denominationalism they were of 
one mind and one heart in the elevation of the 
German people. 

The historian says of Muhlenberg, and this will 
at once show his union with Antes: " He traveled 
far and wide, responding to the call of duty among 
the churches from New Vork to Georola. He 



193 

preached in churches, In private houses, in the open 
air, and carried the gospel from house to house in 
pastoral visitation. He adapted himself to the 
wants and tastes of the people. He was able to 
preach in- either the German, Dutch or English 
language, sometimes using all three the same day. 
Had his wise policy been pursued by his immediate 
successors, ^ much of the work performed by him 
and his co-laborers would not have been lost to the 
church of which they were members ; but those 
comine after them, confinlnof their ministrations to 
the German language w^ere not able to hold those 
who Vv-ere growing up under the influence and 
training of the English language and customs. 
Every means by which piety could be cultivated 
was practiced by pastor Muhlenberg. Immediately 
on his arrival in this country he organized prayer 
meetings for the edification of the church ; these he 
could seldom attend. They were held often — -three 
times each week — some pious laymen presiding. 
Prayers were offered, the Bible and books of religious 
value were read. So marked were these meetinofs 
that the wicked sometimes made it an object to 
disturb them by casting stones against the door, 
and by reviling the worshippers as pietists and 
hypocrits. He was a promotor of revivals of re- 
ligion. The interest which the people took in their 
preaching during such efforts was manifested by 
the ' audible weeping of the congregation and the 



194 

advice sought in private concerning the salvation 
of their souls.' Muhlenberg had no stated forms 
by which worship should be invariably conducted. 
When he used a liturgical service it was short and 
simple, but he believed that a minister should be 
bound to no system. In all his services his object 
was to lead men to Christ, so he adopted an)' 
method that would bring about the desired end. 
His preaching was plain and simple. He used 
both the formal discourse and the more practical 
method of question and answer. Sometimes, imme- 
diately after the sermon, the congregation was 
questioned on the leading points presented in it ; 
they were requested to find the proof texts, which 
led them to bring their Bibles to church. The 
afternoon hour was frequently employed in question 
and answer, the subject being either the morning 
sermon or some other portion of the Bible or 
catechism. He expressed his notion of preaching 
as follows : ' In our discourses we ought to make 
no ostentatious display of learning, but study sim- 
plicity. We should neither strike into the air, nor 
employ low and v^ulgar expressions, nor introduce 
too much matter Into a sermon, but discuss the sub- 
ject fully, and apply It to the heart. Our sermons 
sliould not be dry, but practical. Religion should 
be presented not as a burden, but as a pleasure. 
Let us sow with tears, let us aim at the edification 
of each individual soul, and give heed to ourselves 



195 

and to our doctrines.' Muhlenberg, with his co- 
workers, was never satisfied until he had brought 
those under his Instruction Into full christian exper- 
ience. He everywhere insisted on rigid discipline. 
His strict views concerning the sanctity of the Sab- 
bath in many places brought him into trouble with 
those who looked upon It as a day for general 
recreation and amusement. Of the ofeneral results 
of their labors he and his associates in the ministry 
declare that with the middle-aged, who have grown 
up without Instruction, they were unsuccessful, but 
from the young they derived great encouragement." 
To show still further how this great man and 
Antes thought alike, we quote Muhlenberg's own 
language after the meeting of one of the conferences 
which he had established. "After the close of 
public worship all the ministers convened at my 
house, and held a biblical colloquy on the essential 
characteristics of genuine repentance, faith, and 
godliness, in which they endeavored to benefit each 
other, according to the grace given them, by com- 
municating the results of their own experience and 
self-examination, so that It was a cheering and 
delightful season. The residue of the evening was 
spent in singing spiritual hymns and psalms, and in 
conversation about the spiritual condition of our 
churches, and so short did the time appear, that it 
was three o'clock in the mornincr before we retired 
to rest. Oh, how delightful It Is when ministers, 



196 

standing aloof from all political and party contests, 
seek to please their Lord and Master Jesus Christ, 
and have at heart the welfare of their churches and 
the souls entrusted to their care, and are willing 
rather to suffer reproach with the people of God 
than choose the treasures of Egypt." Such was 
the man who now undeitook the work of leading 
the Germans to study the English language. 

He had antagonized Antes on the unity move- 
ment, and although belonging to a different com- 
munion, recognized the great influence Antes 
possessed, and yet both of these men were so 
reasonable that they laid aside all natural predju- 
dice and suspicion, and when Muhlenberg called 
on Antes to aid him in this work. Antes responded 
by throwing his whole heart into it. In a note to 
Rev. William Smith, Muhlenberg gives an account 
of the meeting held in New Hanover respecting 
the proposed schools, in which he says : "I delivered 
* * all your other papers into the 
hands of Henry Antes, Esq., who, being a man of 
great reputation and influence^ was attentively 
heard while he explained the same to the people. 
After conferring a litte together they (Reformed) 
all melted at once into tears of joy, uttered many 
thankful expressions, and agreed in christian har- 
mony in the choice of our Lutheran school-house, 
also their own school-house, which is only about 
sixty poles distant." This shows that Antes had 



197 

returned to the fellowship of his beloved Reformed 
communion, and had not lost a particle of his 
influence with them, and was now able to lead his 
church to fraternize with the Lutherans, a move- 
ment requiring the most delicate management. In 
his soul there was no room for harborinof resent- 
ments or standinof on trifles, and in all thinors he 
was ready to go with them just as far as his con- 
science was not offended. In this incident we also 
see how in that early day, the followers of the 
Pietists In Germany were brought into associations 
with each other in America, and carried out the 
principles of their Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, 
within their denominational lives, in the most 
thorouo^h and consistent manner. To them Christ 
was superior to all personal desires. 

But notwithstanding the earnest efforts of these 
men, backed by the London Society, the movement 
was, like the unity movement, severely antagonized 
by not only the more ignorant of the Germans, but 
also by those who sought to curry favor with them, 
and maintain a political influence over them. Then, 
as to-day, the power of the press was second to no 
other, and the German newspaper published by 
Sauer, in Germantown, while esteeming Antes most 
highly, threw Its Influence against the movement, 
and being In harmony with the predjudices of the 
people, so Influenced them that the effort proved 
a failure. Then, as to-day, the newspaper was 



I9« 

merely the exponent of the prevalent sentiment 
of the times, while Antes and the others were 
filled with the spirit of a later and a more advanced 
day. 

ki Philadelphia, the antagonism between the 
Governor and the Quakers in the Assembly seemed 
to be perpetual, and strife marked almost every 
step of progress that was taken. As the Germans 
mostly sided with the Quakers, there were frequent 
charges of disloyalty aimed at theni, and because 
they were true and loyal, this hurt their feelings, 
and led them to justify themselves. " On the 20th 
of November 1754, the principal German protes- 
tants of the Province addressed a letter to the Hon. 
Robert Hunter Morris, Esq., Lieutenant Governor, 
affirming their fidelity to the British sovereign. 
The signers from Frederick Township were Henry 
Antes, George Hubner, and Philip Leydich. Antes, 
who knew the Germans of Pennsylvania better than 
any other living man, even though they would not 
adopt his more advanced views, felt keenly the 
injustice of the accusation and the cowardice of the 
attack upon the Iionor of this faithful people, who, 
by reason of their alien language and social disad- 
vantages, were almost defenceless. To vindicate 
more thoroughly his countrymen, he wrote a letter 
to Richard Peters, Secretary of the Province, 
making suggestions, viz : 



199 

To Mr. Richard Peters, Secretary : 

Sir — we have 
considered further concerning our address to his 
Honor, Robert Hunter Morris. That as there is a 
great number of Germans all over ye Province of 
Pennsylvania, which might perhaps not have heard 
nor indentet anything, neither of the late accusation 
against the said Nation in general, and may be less 
of our late address to his Honor ye Governor con- 
certing ye same, and for ye more satisfaction to 
them all which is ignorant in it, we thought it proper 
to put it in public print, both in English and Dutch ; 
if his Honor ye Governor has not already put the 
copy to the presse, and therefore hope his Honor 
will not take it amiss : because it only to that Intent 
that our Protestant country people might see all 
our reason and motive to our actions ; Especially 
in ye Dutch colony we Intent to make a short intro- 
duction to shew them both our concern as also to 
remind them of their Loyal duty to the Crown of 
Great Britain, as likewise his Honor's answer to ye 
s'd address, of which I send you by this ye copy to 
correct ; pray do not take it amiss, as you have 
been present you are most able to add where I have 
omitted, and alter where I might not have used the 
very same expressions his Honor made to the said 
r.ddress. I should have nothing against it if his 
: lonor ye Governor should see his own ansr as 



200 

much as I could remember thereof, before it h jut 
to print and correct himself what he pleases thereot, 
and so send it back to Mr. Kepely, in Philadelphia, 
who is desired to forward ye same to print. And 
with this I remain with many salutations. 

Sir, your Humble servant, 

Hexrv Antes. 

Frederick Township, December ye 24th, 1754. 

Thus we see his care that all the people should 
know of the efforts made to preserve the harmony 
in the Province. And it was by this consideration 
of their feelings, and this confidence in their intelli- 
gence and public spirit that he retained their respect 
and confidence all the days of his life. He w^as a 
father to them, and in their troubles never failed to 
be their wise frienil and courageous helper. 




Chapter XIX. 
Death and Burial of Antes. 

'ENRY ANTES' last public efforts were in 
the service of his fellow Germans, trying 
i£(^^^ to clear them of all unjust imputation, and 
' ?^ explaining the real sincerity of their desires 
for the prosperity of the Province. Then the 
results of his overwork and exposure in pioneer 
labors began to manifest themselves in the failure of 
his physical strength, and he went to his bed to 
suffer until the day of release should come. He 
had not many months to wait, but these were 
months which sorely tried his faith. It seemed as 
if all his desires had been denied him, although 
worldly prosperity and family blessings had been 
granted him. The Unity movement had utterly 
failed, — all the sects drew off from it, — it merged 
into the Moravian establishment, and now that had 
gone back to sacerdotal forms. The Educational 
movement had failed, for the Germans still seriously 
mistrusted the English, and would not submit to 
their forms of speech. The Germans were har- 
rassed by all kinds of legal quibbles, and were 
almost defenseless in the possession of their rights. 
Zinzendorf, whom Antes loved so dearly, was being 



202 

terribly maligned, and his cause spoken against,, 
even by Antes' former friend, Andrew Frey, and the 
gloomiest of war clouds were hanging over the 
colony of Pennsylvania, and parti.cularly over his 
beloved friends on the North Eastern frontier. 

In the Summer of 1755 came Kraddock's defeat, 
and as a consequence, a general mistrust of the 
Indians all along the frontier. It was along parts 
of this frontier that Antes had spent many years of 
labor and pleasant associations. In these cabins 
were many whom he had known and loved, and 
now instead of the prevalence of the peace for 
which he had given his life, the awful cruelty and 
butchery of aroused savagedom seemed to threaten 
to rapidly descend. The Moravians at Bethlehem 
were not insensible to the danger, and began to 
fortify their strongholds, and so far as they could, 
prepare for the storm. " Colonel William Franklin 
with a regiment of five hundred men proceeded to 
the Lehigh and superintended a line of fortifications. 
The precautionary measures were wisely taken ; 
the line of the frontier from the Delaware Water 
Gap to the Potomac was the scene of burning 
settlements, massacre, and cruelty." 

In the Forks of the Delaware, at Easton, in the 
latter part of 1756 great councils were held with 
the Indians, two )'ears later in the same place other 
councils were held in which not only the Delaware 
Indians, but the Six Tribes or Nations sent their 



chiefs, to amicably settle their affairs with the people 
of the colony. 

It was on the morning of July 20th 1755 while 
these troubles were brewing, that Henry Antes died, 
and by noon of the same day, and just after the 
Express sent by the Governor to General Shirley 
at Albany, N. Y., with intelligence of the defeat of 
Braddock, had passed through, the sad news was pro- 
claimed in Bethlehem. His death awakened (general 
sorrow, and from busy Germantown to the frontier 
he became the subject of eulogistic comment. The 
grief of the Moravians was deep and profound, for 
although his latter days were passed in retirement 
from their community, they still held him as one of 
themselves, and his children were in the most 
hearty fellowship with them. His children were 
educated in their schools, three of them being at 
Bethlehem at this time, one of these was John, who 
became a Moravian missionary to the Copts in 
Egypt, and an author of note on Egyptian affairs, 
Ann Catherine, his oldest daughter, was Superin- 
tendent of the Single Sisters and Girls at Nazareth 
and Bethlehem, while Anna Margaretta, his second 
daughter, was being educated in the school of the 
United Brethren in London, she havino^ crone there 
with Zinzendorf in 1 743. 

Bishop Spangenberg sorrowed greatly over the 
death of his valued co-laborer, and lamented that 
he, instead of a noted man who had died about 



204 

that time, was not buried at Bethlehem. It was 
twenty-five miles from Bethlehem to Antes' home, 
but on Monday the 21st of July, a delegation con- 
sisting- of Bishop Spangenberg and wife, Revs. 
Abraham Reinicke, John Bechtel, Matthew Schrope. 
and eight others, with the three children of Antes, 
started to attend the funeral. Ten of these 
Brethren were the pall-bearers. The consolitar)- 
addre.ss was by the Bishop, while Abraham Rein 
icke read the beautiful burial service of the Mora- 
vians. There were six hundred persons present 
and services were held in both English and German, 
and thus amidst the unrepressed tears of relatives 
and friends from near and far, and in the sight of 
such a throng as was seldom seen in the country 
districts of the colony, the great and good man, 
Henry Antes, was laid to rest. 

What a scene that was as the body of the dead 
.saint was lowered into the tomb. His beloved 
friend and Bishop, aud his fellow workers in the 
Moravian interests standing by, weeping, probably 
reflectine that now in the awful dano^ers of war their 
counselor, holding the confidence of whites and 
Indians alike, could no more pour oil on the troubled 
waters, though several of the Moravian preachers 
possessed a very great intluence with the Indians, 
prominent among whom was Timothy Horsefeld. 
There too, were the friends of his earlier days, his 
companions in the Unity movement, who now had 



205 

no one to look to as their leader for the accomplish- 
ment of that glorious work. There too, were the 
people who, in their business trials, had gone to 
him for counsel and help out of their difficulties, and 
were never deceived. There too, w^ere those who 
in the courts of the county had admired him in the 
administration of justice. There too, were the 
teachers and pastors of the schools just established 
to advance a higher and better grade of education. 
Ah ! there they were, from Philadelphia, German- 
town, Bethlehem, the Oley hills and valleys, the 
Whitemarsh and Skippack glades, from the borders 
of the Schuylkill to the banks of the Lehigh, yea, 
from the Delaware to the slopes of the Blue Moun- 
tains, rendering their last tribute of respect to him, 
whom they called " The pious layman of Frederick 
tov.mship." 

And what eulogies were spoken in praise of him, 
not only by the men of his day, but by such men as 
Harbaugh, the Historian of the Reformed Church 
since that day. We will quote one utterance, 
which appeared in Sauer's Germantown paper in 
May 1 6th 1756. The value of this can be the more 
appreciated when it is known that the editor of 
:hat paper was not given to praise, but, being a 
nan of rigid and austere religious convictions, was 
more disposed to speak in terms of severity of men 
and affairs, and in the London school movement 
had opposed Antes. " By this opportunity the 



200 

editor cannot justly omit to state what he has heard 
as truth concerning Henry Antes, viz : When he 
had been for a long time prostrated by sickness, 
and he felt the end of life was near, a warm friend 
visited him and inquired, how he regarded his past 
administration of the office of justice of the peace ? 
whether he felt easy in mind concerning this ? He 
answered : He did not desire the office, and 
accepted it contrary to his own wishes, because so 
many desired him to accept ; he walked in upright- 
ness himself and administered justice to others to 
the extent of his ability ; he never respected the 
person in passing judgment ; when his friend or a 
rich man, yes, even a justice, was in the wrong, he 
helped the poor man to his rights, nor did he favor 
his children against a stranger, and he did not lie 
down to rest until he had examined his entire day's 
work, and had ascertained that he had performed 
his office as he would have men do to him ; and 
when he erred through ignorance he made the 
correction directly. Therefore he felt quite at ease 
concerning his office of judge, and he longed only 
for dissolution. He died in a state of impartiality 
towards all men and parties. IVere such ma<^is- 
trates more munerous, the poor luould not have cause 
to complain and to weep over ^r..ss injustice which 
they have to suffe^^^ because per.-^ons are respected'' 

His benevolence and spirit of forgiveness were 
manifested in his will, in which he gave ,./"5o to the 



207 

Unitas Fratnim for the benefit of their Indian 
wards at Gnaden Hutten and elsewhere. 

In a private burial place on his farm, about half- 
way between Keeler'sand Falkner Swamp churches, 
Henry Antes was buried, and his grave marked by 
a tombstone of blue marble, on which is inscribed : 
Hier ruhet 
Heinrich Antes : 
Ein Klelnod dieses Landes ; 

Ein redlich kuhner 
Handhaber der Gerechtigkeit 

Und treuer Diener 

Vor Welt und Gottes Lent, 

Entschlief 

In Freidrichs-Town den 20 Julu 

1755 

Seines alters 54 Jahre. 

The translation of which is — 

Here rests 

Henry Antes : 

An Ornament of this Land ; 

An upright, fearless 

Administrator of Justice 

and a faithful servant, 

Before the World's and God's people, . 

Fell asleep 

in Frederick-Town, July 20, 

1755 
Aged 54 years. 



208 
THE GRAVE OF HENRY ANTES. 



REV. J. H. DUBBS, of Lancaster. 



A little spot on the hillside 

Is all that is now his own, 
A little mound in a thicket, 

And a worn sepulchral stone; 
For a century has departed. 

Since they gently laid him down 
In the grave he himself had chosen, 

On his farm in Fredericktown. 

His land is held b)' a stranger, 

And so is the ancient mill, 
But the name of Henry Antes 

May be read on the tombstone still ; 
And 'tis writ on the Lamb's blest volume- 

As the angels know full well — 
For he sought a home in the regions 

Where the saints and angels dwell. 

He lo\'cd the church of his fathers. 

And over the stormy sea 
He had borne as a precious treasure, 

Their faith to the land of the free; 
But the flock was without a shepherd, 

And many had gone to sleep, 
So he lifted his voice like a trumpet, 

To gather the scattered sheep. 

He greeted the mild Moravians, 
As the servants of the Lord ; 



209 

And with Zinzendorf and Boehler 
He labored in sweet accord ; 

For they sought to unite the churches 
In a brotherhood of love, 

By a " union in the Spirit," 
Like that of the church above. 

He stood by the side of Whitefield, 

And prayed in the German tongue, 
When the clarion ^'oice of the preacher 

O'er the hills of Frederick rung. 
They knew not each other's language, 

Nor did they need it then ; 
For the one cried, Hallelujah ! 

And the other said. Amen ! 

When his heart was almost broken. 

And he felt that the end was nigh. 
To his farm in Frederick township, 

Henry Antes returned to die ; 
And when his spirit departed 

To dwell in the land of the blest, 
Ten loving Bethlehem Brethren 

Bore his corpse to its final rest. 

I feel as I stand by his tombstone, 

That he did not live in vain ; 
I am moved by his noble example 

To labor with might and main ; 
For though our labors may vanish. 

Like clouds in the Summer sky, 
The souls that are true to their Savior 

Shall reign with the saints on high. 



210 
THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF HENRY ANTES. 

In the name of God, Amen. I Henry Antes oi 
Frederick Township in the County of Philadelphia, 
Wheelwright. Being a little sick in body, but of 
sound mind and memory, I do make and declare 
this to be my last Will and Testament. 

First, I commend my soul unto God my Saviour 
and Redeemer, by whose merits alone I hope to be 
saved and to enjoy eternal life, and my body 1 
commit to the eardi to be buried at ye discretion ol 
my friends or executors. 

hiiprimis, I give — first of all unto Christina my 
beloved wife, all her bedding, clothing, side saddle, 
and my watch, and as much tea and kitchen ware as 
she pleases to have out of the whole * * 
and a Room and fire place to live in, which she 
pleases to have in my house, or houses on my land 
in ye sd Township, and Twenty pounds Pennsyl- 
vania money yearly or annually during her natural 
life to be paid to her order, and that out of my 
lands and mills lying and being in Frederick Town- 
ship above sd altogether during her natural life 
from ye time of my decease in stead of her thirds. 

Second, I give fifty pounds Pennsylvania money 
unto Abraham Bemper and Timothy Horseficld or 
their succeeding committees for the furtherance of 
the Gospel of Jesus Christ to ye use of the hidian 
Brethren at Gnadenhutten or elsewhere under the 



211 

care of the Umtas Fratriim now in Bethlehem in 
Pennsylvania. 

Third, I give and bequeath unto my two eldest 
sons Frederick and William, all my plantation in 
the Township and County above sd, containing 175 
or more acres of land with all the buildings and 
improvements thereon, and 76 acres of woodland 
out of the South East side of a tract containing 90 
odd acres in Limirick Township between the lines 
of Henry Diringer and Joseph Bitting, with the 
proviso that they only pay or cause to be paid and 
allowed unto Christina my wife aforesd all that 
which I gave to her heretofore out of the same, and 
besides this to pay to my three eldest daughters 
500 pounds money above sd, that is to say, to my 
daughter Cathrina 100 pounds thereof one year 
after my decease, and 100 pounds thereof to my 
daughter Margaret two years after my decease, and 
again 100 pounds thereof one year after my said 
wife's decease to aforesd daughter Cathrina, and 
100 pounds thereof to my sd daughter Margareta 
ye year following, and 100 pounds thereof (ye resi- 
due of ye sd five hundred pounds) to my daughter 
Elizabeth ye year then following) ye sd Elizabeth 
had, or is to have the value of 100 pounds out of 
my estate heretofore) but in case my sd wife should 
not live so long until the two first payments * 
is made then * * the three last men- 



:r:i2 



tioned payments is to begin three years after my 
decease and so following- as aforesaid. 

Likewise I give unto ye sd sons Frederick and 
William four horses or mares ye choice of the whole, 
with their geers, and one sadle and two waggons, 
one iron harrow, and two thirds of all my husbandry 
and carpenter vessels and tools and two thirds of 
the sheep, four milch cows and ye house clock. 

Item and fourthly I give and bequeath unto my 
son Henry all that my plantation in Hanover town- 
ship * * containing 156 acres of land, 
be it more or less, the which I had of my father, 
Frederick Antes, by Will and Testament, with all ye 
buildings thereon and twenty acres along side of 
ye same out of ye afore sd tract of land of 96 acres 
between ye sd line of ye sd Henry Diringer and 
Joseph Bitting with the proviso that he pays 100 
pounds to my son John when he shall be 24 years 
old, and 50 pounds to my daughter Benigna when 
she shall be 24 years old. Likewise I give to this 
my sd son Henry, 2 horses or mares ye choice out 
of the rest of my stock wath their geers and 2 milch 
cow^s and one third part of my sheep and one-third 
part of all my husbandry and carpenter tools and 
iron harrow and one waggon to be fixed up with 
ye old burned waggon tire * * to be 
* * under ye administration of my execu- 
tors., until the said son Henry is 2 1 years old, and 
then to be delivered to him, and before that time 



21 



ye said son is to serve his mother without any other 
further reward. But in case if a sum of money 
should be lawfully demanded on the sd 1 5 6 acres 
I had from my father above sd for fault of the deed 
within 15 years, such sd sum of money shall be 
equally paid between all my children, but if after 
15 years then the sd Henry shall lose it alone. 

Item, I give my said son John over and above 
what I have given to him before, 1 50 pounds to be 
paid to him when he is 21 years of age. 

Item, I give unto my daughter Mary over and 
above what I gave to her before, 1 50 pounds to be 
paid to her when she is 2 1 years of age. 

Item, unto my daughter Benigna ''•' * 
150 pounds * * when * * 21. 

Item and lastly, after all my just debts are paid, 
all the rest of my moneys, bond notes, * * 
is to be turned into money and ye same to be put 
on lawful interest, and the interest arising is to be 
for the use of my sd wife during her life, and after, 
the whole to be divided between all my said children 
in equal parts, further, if any disputes should happen 
to arise, it shall be left to my trusty friends Timothy 
Horsefield, now in Bethlehem, and Daniel Benezet 
and Samuel Powell, in the city of Philadelphia, or 
to any two thereof and their judgment shall be 
allowed in all cases. 

I do appoint my sd wife, my eldest son Frederick, 
and my son William to be my whole and sole 



214 

Executors and Adolph Mayer of Scipatt, and Daniel 
Bishope of Bethlehem to be guardians over all my 
children under age. 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand 
and seal this twentieth day of July, 1754. 

Henry Anies. 

Signed and sealed in the presence of 

Conrad Dodderer, 

George Hubner, 

JosT Bitting. 

I Henry Antes — do this 8th day of July Anno 
Dom one thousand seven hundred fifty-five make 
and publish this my codecil to my last Will and 
Testament, that is to say, concerning ye land 
belonging to me in North Carolina I do impower 
and desire my Executors to sell and dispose of the 
same unto the people called Unit as Fratr7im and if 
they dislike, then to any person as will pay for the 
same. 

Henry H. A. Antes. (^seIl) 

mark ^^^^'^^'^ 

In presence of 

Conrad Dodderer, 

George Hubner, 

JosT Bitting, ' 

The seal used by the testator had engrav^ed upon it 
a monogram, of the capital letters H. A. in script, in- 
terwoven, and surrounded by ornamental flourishes. 



215 

INVENTORY 

Of the personal estate of Henry Antes, late of the Town- 
ship of Frederick and County of Philadelphia, Esqr. 
Deceased. 

Cash and wearing apparell, 

Bills, bonds, notes, and boock debts, 

Watch, 

Riding horse and saddle, 

Desch, boock case and boocks, 

Five beds and bed steads, 

50 bushels wheat at 43, 6 pr bu., 

35 bu rye @ 4 s pr bu., 

A cobbart, 

Three tables. 

One chest, 

17 chairs, 

2 looking glasses, 

3 iron potts, 

Coffee mill and teakettle, 
5 pewter dishes, 

4 pewter basins, 27 tankarts, "i 

13 plats and 15 spoons, / 
A small copper kettle and 1 

2 brass skillets, / 

Earthen ware and 4 candle sticks, 
A stilliard, 

2 latles, I skimmer, 2 flesh forks, 
2 pair of tongs, 2 fire shovels, 
I chaving dish and gritt iron, 
Cloack, 

4 spinning wheels, 
A large Bible, 



£. 


s. 


d. 


51 








927 


12 


9 


5 








10 








6 








<? 








1 1 


5 





7 








1 


5 





I 


5 








10 





I 











10 





I 


10 








9 





I 


5 






1 1 



16 






10 








12 








4 








10 








6 





7 











10 





I 





a 



2l6 



4 -weeding hoes, i grooping hoc, "i 


i 








I pick, 3 shovels, 2 spades,and i cleaver, J 








Wheelwright and carpenter tools, 


20 








Wheat and rye in the stran, 


30 








Wind mill, 


I 








3 pitch forks, 3 donge forks, 2 donge hooks. 





6 





8 hogs. 


5 





c 


Apple mill, 


I 


10 





Cutting box, 2 riddles, 2 half bushels. 





15 





Geers for four horses, 


2 


10 





2 brass kettles, 3 frying pans. 


3 








An old gun, 





5 





7 milch cows. 


21 








6 calfs, 


4 


10 





6 heifers, 


II 








6 steers, 


13 








An old brown horse,' 


2 








A bay horse. 


8 








A black horse, 


6 








A black mare. 


5 








A black cold. 


5 








A black mare cold, 


6 








A gray marc, 


10 








A servant girls time. 


5 








21 sheeps, 


6 









;^I2I4 6 9 

Taken and appraised this twentieth day of September 
Anno Domino 1755 by us. 

Wm. Dewees, 
George Hubner, 
Endorsed : Jost Bitting. 

Exhibited 12th August 1756. 



Chapter XX. 
Henry Melchior Muhlenberg. 

jN a description of this great man, and in his own 
record of his entrance into this country we 
have a picture which will suggest to us a tol- 
erably correct understanding of the times and the 
people. 

Prof. M. L. Stoever says of him : — " In stature 
Dr. Muhlenberor was of medium heioht, thick set, 
and somewhat stooped. His frame was robust, his 
complexion florid, temperament sanguine, with a 
mixture of phlegmatic — his eye bright, and expres- 
sive of a kind heart — his countenance friendly and 
engaging, indicative of the warm feelings of his 
soul — his voice was full, penetrating, and melodious 
— his elocution clear and effective. His personal 
appearance and manner were altogether such as to 
produce the conviction that he realized the respon- 
sibility of the position which he sustained ; his whole 
aspect was becoming to the holy office with which he 
was invested. He was a man of clear, vigorous 
intellect, and of varied and extensive learning. He 
was distinguished for the versatility of liis powers, 
and the range of his acquirement. His mind, 

naturally capacious, had been subjected to the most 

217 



2l8 

careful culture, ami the most rigid discipline ; and 
in all his efforts he was regular, systematic and 
industrious. His memory was retentive, his per- 
ceptions quick, his judgments acute, and his know- 
ledi^e of character wonderful. As a linguist he 
occupied a very high rank. He was an accurate 
and finished Hebrew and Greek scholar. The Ger- 
man, Enolish. Dutch, French, Bohemian, and 
Swedish, it is .said, he wrote with fluency. He 
could also speak in all the different languages then 
spoken on the continent. With the Latin he was 
as familiar as with his own vernacular tongue. At 
the meeting of Synod in 1750, we find him deliver- 
ing a Latin address to the brethren in the ministry ; 
also, at a subsec]uent convention, the exercises were 
introduced with a congratulatory discourse in Latin 
by a Swedish Lutherian minister, to which Dr. 
Muhlenberg replied in the same language. He had 
likewise devoted considerable attention to the 
natural sciences. He was very much interested in 
the study of chemistry, and had given some time to 
the study of medicine, which he found useful to him 
during his pastoral labors in his visitations to the 
poor. He was a fine musician, and perlormcd with 
much skill on the organ, the harp, guitar, and the 
violin. He also had a pleasant voice, and it is said, 
sang most delightfully." 

This quotation fram his diary and letters is from 
Rev. Dr. Germann's work : " On Thursday, the 



219 

25th of November, 1742, at eight o'clock in the 
morning, we arrived at the town of Philadelphia. 
Thus far has the good Lord helped me with his 
kindness, grace and mercy, and borne with me, a 
poor sinner to the 3 2d year, with much patience, 
long-suffering and forbearance for Christ's sake. 
I was a stranger in Philadelphia, and knew not 
which w^ay to turn. On the way had heard by 
chance, that the apothecary Zwaeiler, who was 
formerly in Ebenger (Georgia), now lived in Phila- 
delphia and had connected himself with the Mora- 
vian Brethren. First I stopped at an English inn 
and inquired for Mr. Zwiefler. He received me 
kindly, and when I asked respecting the German 
Lutherans, he informed me that the most intelligent 
and the majority followed Count Zinzendorf and 
the remainder had taken an old minister named 
Johann Valentine Kraft, who came hither from 
Germany, from Zweibrucken, where he was dis- 
missed. Then endeavoured to hire a lodging room 
but could find none except in the English house in 
which Mr. Zwieller resided. From here returned 
to the English innkeeper with whom I stopped first, 
and inquired where New Hanover and New Provi- 
dence w^ere located. He did not know, and brought 
in a German from the country, who w^as just then in 
town, but who lived in New Hanover. The man's 
name was Philip Brandt, and he said we might ask 
a lon'7 time in vain, because New Providence was 



220 

known by the name of Trappe, and New Hanover 
by the name of Falkner Schwamm. Mr. Brandt in 
formed me that the conoreoration in New Hanover 
had engaged as pastor a man named Schmidt, who 
appeared to be a quack and a dentist. He said 
further New Hanover was thirty-six Enghsh miles 
distant, and that he must this evenino;^ start on his 
return home although the roads were in bad condi- 
tion. I was still weak and swollen from the sea 
voyage, but not wishing to lose time resolved 
to accompany him, and had my effects brought 
from the vessel to the rented room. Mr. Brandt 
in the meantime hired a horse for my use and in 
the evening we rode quietly out of town. We fed 
the horses ten miles out of town at a tavern kept 
by a German. At the tavern sat several Germans 
who mentioned in conversation with each other, 
that the old clergyman, Valentine Kraft, had been 
chosen pastor in Philadelphia, Germantown and 
New Hanover. We remained here for the night. 
" Friday, the 26th of November, we continued 
our journey in company with several Germans ; 
made slow progress, as we could only walk 
our horses on account of the heavy roads. It was 
evening when we came to the two creeks, Skippack 
and the Perkiome, which we had to cross. The 
first was low, the other high. My companion rode 
ahead. I was to follow. My horse was light and 
vveak, and the stream being violent he was carried 



221 



down with the current a distance of several rods. 
He nevertheless made his way diagonally across 
the stream and brought me up on the other side 
and safely out of danger. ' Credo Providentianiy 
old Pastor Sommer (at Schorlitz Anhalt) was in 
the habit of often saying : My soul, forget it not ! 
I was soaked with water up to my chest and had 
still ten miles to ride in the darkness to reach New 
Hanover, which gave me a catarrhal fever; reached 
under God's gracious providence Brandt's home, 
where I stopped over night and. was hospitably 
entertained. 

" Saturday, November 27th, at an early hour rode 
with Brandt further up to visit a congregation and 
requested him to call a meeting of the other 
deacons and the present elders of the congregation, 
in order that certain information might be com- 
municated to them. In the afternoon two deacons 
and four elders met. I caused the letter of the 
Reverend Court Chaplain Ziegenhagen to be read 
to them by Mr. Brandt They said, in part, that 
tliey had indeed re-engaged the above-mentioned 
Schmidt to be their minister. They would, how- 
ever, receive me also, and on their part respect the 
letter of the Court Chaplain if the members of the 
congregation approved. But as regarded the union 
C!{ Philadelphia, New Providence and New Hanover, 
it seemed to them Impossible for one minister to 
serve the three places, because Philadelphia and 



New Hanover were located thirty six miles apart ; 
secondly, in the Winter season the roads were 
difficult : thirdly, two streams had to be crossed. 
Others thought it would be well if I could arrange 
with old Pastor Kraft, of Philadelphia, that he 
should serve Philadelphia and Germantown, and I 
New Hanover and Providence : or that I should 
preach below and Kraft above. Answer: I had no 
assignment to Germantown, and dared not omit 
any of the three places until they discharge me. 
They thought it unfortunate that the Philadelphians, 
Germantownians, and Providence people had 
become so far committed to Pastor Kraft. I 
allowed the matter to rest until further advised, of his 
designs, and desired, God willing, to preach in their 
church on the 28th of November, to wit, the first 
Sunday in Advent, and that they should notify the 
aforesaid Mr. Schmidt accordingly. Hereupon the 
conference closed with prayer and I remained at 
the deacon's house. In private conversation learned 
that this congregation is much disturbed and divided. 
'A portion sympathize with preacher Schmidt ; 
others had separated themselves on his account ; 
still others had previously withdrawn and wished 
to have nothing to do with churches and ministers ; 
several joined Count Zinzendorf 's new institution ; 
many believed nothing whatever.' Poor encour- 
agement ! 

" On the appointed first Sunday in Advent came 




THE FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA 



22-\ 



several persons to the deacon's house in whicr I 
lodged, and dealt with a Jew whose shop was here. 
He became engaged In a violent quarrel with a 
•carpenter who was a member of the congregation, 
which was to be carried by law suit before a mag- 
istrate. They accepted, however, after much per- 
suasion, my mediation, and became reconciled to 
■each other, solely out of respect for me, as they 
said. Afterwards admonished the Jew concerning 
some aggravating remarks and Improper expres- 
sions. He made light of my words and said I did 
not yet understand this part of the country. At 
nine o'clock rode with the deacon to the church, 
which a year ago was erected of squared logs, but 
whose interior was not completed. Men and 
■women came on horseback to church. The 
preacher Schmidt also came, and sat beside me. I 
Informed him that I purposed to-day preaching my 
introductory sermon, and that I would relieve him. 
He expressed himself courteously and said he 
would not Interfere with me. This first sermon was 
on 2 Cor. V. 19, 20, 'God was in Christ, and 
reconciled us to Himself — be ye reconciled to God,' 
and was to me affecting for the reason that one 
year ago about this time I delivered my farewell 
seimon at Grosshennersdorf After the sermon 
caused the call and Instructions of the Reverend 
Ziegenhagen to be read to the meeting because the 
deacons and elders so desired, and rode home witl 



224 

the deacon. Afternoon had several visits from the 
congregation and opportunity to speak a good 
word, and to hear various opinions expressed, 
namely : Some were pleased with the prospect 
because they hoped the congregation would in 
time be placed under good discipline ; those who 
sided with preacher Schmidt were not fully satisfied, 
and thought he should not be entirely discarded, 
even though he was not ordained, and now and 
then indulged in a little too much drink ; even 
among the best are none without fault ; he might 
at least be deputy, and be allowed to preach when 
the new minister was compelled to be absent. 
Others vv'ho had severed their connection long ago, 
said they wanted to see how the matter turned out, 
inasmuch as they had been hoodwinked before, and 
no one could tell whether I myself had not written 
the letter. Finally, some halted because the call 
fixed the salary at forty pounds sterling a year, 
which might prove a tax and a burden upon their 
children and grandchildren, and preferred to have 
nothing to do with the matter. I secretly rejoiced 
that God's foresight hatl kept back the tenderly 
beloved servant Boltzius (at Ebenezer, Georgia), 
and liad spared him the knowledge of this heart- 
sickening state of things. On the sea voyage I 
cuffered physicall)' nauseating sea-sickness, and now 
I must endure a nioral emetic and learn to know 
its healine effects. 



225 

" Monday, the 29th clay of November, three elders 
of the congregation accompanied me nine miles 
down to New Providence, for the purpose of con- 
ferring with the deacons there, and stopped with 
the widow Schrack, whose husband, a deacon, and 
one of those who often petitioned the Rev. Mr. 
Ziegenhagen for a minister, died the past Summer. 
We therefore sent for the eldest deacon yet living. 
I showed him the Court Chaplain's letter. He 
recognized immediately the Court Chaplain's signa- 
ture, and he expressed pleasure at my coming. 
They had indeed abandoned the hope and no longer 
expected anyone, because they had received no 
answer to their last letter of 1739, and therefore a 
year ago made a request to the Reverend Con- 
sistory of Darmstead for a minister. A short time 
since an old clergyman named Valentine Kraft had 
arrived, who said he was sent by the Consistory. 
He had, it is true, brought no credentials, but he 
stated that they would follow. Besides there were 
persons who knew him as a minister in Germany. 
He (the deacon) made the suggestion that I should 
confer with Mr. Kraft and either take charge of 
the two lower congregations in the town, or the 
two Mpper in the country. I allowed the matter 
to rest for further examination. 

" Monday, the 30th of November, the eldest 
deacon of the Trappe rode with me to the younger^ 
and from there to Philadelphia, where we arrived, 



226 

Avearied, at nine o'clock in the evening. I was 
compelled on account of my hired horse to stop 
acrain at an Ensrlish inn, The landlord conducted 
me into a large room, where, as he remarked, 
■gentlemen of position sat. hnmediately upon my 
entrance they asked me whether I was a Moravian. 
Lutheran, Presbyterian, or Established Church min- 
ister ? Answer ; They should learn better manners 
than to accost a stranger with such questions. 
They excused themselves. Afterwards paid for 
the hired horse and went to my lodging room. 

"On Saturday, the iith of December, 1742, I 
quitted my rented room, and considering my other 
expenses, had to pay the Englishman dearly. At 
nine o'clock in the forenoon I rode with Mr. Kraft 
out of the city, through Germantown, at which 
place my patron led me before several houses 
and exhibited me to th6 people as a curiosity. 
During the afternoon we had continuous, heavy 
rains, became thoroughly wet, and were compelled 
to cross the two swollen streams Schippack and 
Perkiome in the darkness of the night. One of the 
deacons, who resided on tliis side of the streams, 
kindly accompanied us through the water, so that 
preserved by God's care, we reached the home of 
the oldest deacon in Providence, and spent the 
night witli him. 

'' On Sunday, the i 2th of December I preached 
for the first time in Providence ; doino- so in the 



22/ 

deacon's barn, the people here having, as yet, no 
church buildino;-. After the sermon Mr. Kraft laid 
before the assemblage the letter of the Court 
Chaplain Zlegenhagen, and the members appeared 
pleased therewith. Mr. Kraft did his best to induce 
me to remove from the city and to recommend the 
congregation to my favor. In this vicinity dwell 
several persons who are natives of the Grand Duchy 
of Hesse Darmstadt and who had in youth good 
Instruction. In the evening several visited us, with 
whom we had edifying conversation. 

"On Monday, Dec. 13th, Mr. Kraft rode ahead 
on horseback to New Hanover. Towards evenino- 
I was also taken there. Mr. Kraft had In the 
meantime stopped with a deacon and had held 
counsel with the matron of the household on the 
questions : Whether it would not be well that I 
should marry ? Whether I should take in marriage 
a city lady, or a farmer's daughter from the country ? 
Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth 
speaketh ! The old man is determined by main 
force to make me happy, In soul and body, in this 
world. I lodged with Mr. Kraft at the oldest 
deacon's. In the evening we were favored with 
the company of a mountebank who was summoned 
to the neighborhood to question a dead man, who 
allowed himself to be frequently seen and who 
terrified the people. I admonished the man to 
desist from such sinful Imposture and from causing 



228 

ignorant persons to commit sin. He refused to 
yield, however, because his personal gain was 
involved. Another asked me, ' What is the sin 
against the Holy Ghost?' I answered from the 
twelfth chapter of Matthew as full)^ as time would 
permit. 

"On Tuesday, December 14th, I was requested 
to baptize a child of the congregation. Mr. Kraft 
accompanied me and ordered how it should be done. 
The elders, deacons, and a number of members, 
had in the meantime assembled. Mr. Kraft left me 
alone in the room and went out to the assemblage 
and began to address them as follows : ' I hav^e now 
brought you a new minister, and will give him to 
you in preference to all others ; make provision 
without dela}^ tliat he may remain and live with you. 
I will unite another conoreration eioht miles farther 
up, with this as a charge. If you do not at once 
make preparation and accept the favor thankfully, I 
will take him immediately to Lancaster and install 
him there as pastor.' Upon this arose confusion 
and excitement in the oratherinof- and several of the 
elders and deacons came in to me and asked, 
' What does this mean ?' ' Whether the old man 
was my superior ?' ' Whether the letter from the 
Court Chaplain was not genuine ?' I could now 
shield Mr. Kraft no longer, but read to the meeting, 
in his presence, once more my appointment and 
pointed out that I was assigned to Philadelphia, 



229 

Providence, and New Hanover, and asked whether 
they all agreed thereto. All answered Aye ' aye ! 
I further told them that I had no connection with 
Mr. Kraft, and that he had no authority over me 
except such as he improperly assumed, or such as 
they gave him. He could not install me in Lan- 
caster or any other place. He endeavored to 
excuse himself and bring himself again into favor, 
but without avail ; the people were glad and the 
elders took me in charge. Visited a man, who 
heretofore, on account of the disorder, refused to 
connect himself with the congregation, but who 
now, In expectation of Improvement, intended to 
unite with It. The man had a small hut alongside 
his dwelling house, in which I could study and sleep, 
but could not walk ; this they gave me for my 
abode. It was somewhat more roomy than the 
cabin in the sloop on which I came from Charles- 
ton, or the tub of Diogenes. 

"The elders were of the opinion that I could 
properly abandon Philadelphia on account of distant 
location ; I told them, however, that it was not left 
to my option to surrender one or the other of the 
three congregations without the approval of my 
superiors, or until they themselves released me. 
They prayed that I would in the beginning remain 
part of the time with them, inasmuch as a party 
during my absence since the first sermon had noti- 
fied their old minister Schmidt to preach again. 



230 

To this he replied that he would do so provided 
they brought him written permission from me. I 
promised to remain until next Sunday, and, God 
willing to preach here. 

"After I had inspected my dwelling place, re- 
turned to the deacon's house, where Mr. Kraft still 
remained, and said to him in private that he had 
committed a serious offense ; this was not the way 
to brinor our EvanQ;elical Lutheran relioion into 
prosperity. On Wednesday, the 15th, Mr. Kraft 
withdrew, having played his role, and traveled 
towards Lancaster. I had various visitors among 
them of those who were wise in their own estima- 
tion and desired to engage in disputation. Thurs- 
day, the 1 6th, I took possession of my appointed 
abiding place, and thanked God for the privilege 
of seclusion, and for the opportunity of collecting 
thoughts undisturbed. Frida)-, the i 7th, was visited 
by a man who spoke to me concerning his soul's 
condition, who evinced a fine knowledge of the 
articles of our faith and who was deeply moved, as 
in conclusion, we joined in prayer. In the evening 
gave a little instruction to the children. Saturday, 
1 8th, devoted to meditation; had also visits from 
several persons, who made charges against their 
neiehbors, and wished me to allude to and condemn 
these matters in my sermon to-morrow. Answer : 
This is not Christ's teaching, Matthew 18: 15-17, 
21, 22, tell us our duty. It is said, also, admonish 



231 

thy friend, it may be he hath not done it, Eccle- 
siastes 19 : 13, 14, 15. 

"On Sunday, December 19th, I preached here 
upon the gospel for the fourth Sunday in Advent 
to a large concourse of people from the vicinity ; 
after the sermon baptized the children in the pres- 
ence of the congregation, and explained the meaning 
of baptism, because certain people oppose baptism, 
especially of children ; reminded also the old of 
their covenant of baptism, and announced that on 
Christmas, Providence permitting, divine service 
would aofain be held. The two deacons from 
Providence were present, and had brought with 
them a horse for me. As soon as service was 
concluded here, I hastened with the deacons to 
Providence, and found a numerous assemblage in 
and around the barn, to whom I explained the 
lesson of the epistle for the day, which was listened 
to with emotion and devoutness. In the evening 
had an encouraging meeting with several persons 
at the deacon's house. The people were hungry 
for the word of God, and felt delight in conversa- 
tion concerning their soul's salvation. 

" On Monday, Dec. 20th, a deacon came from 
Hanover for the purpose of taking me back, but I 
could not go with him ; for according to Mr. Kraft's 
direction I was expected in my first sermon in 
Philadelphia, to announce that at Christmas the 
Lord's supper would be celebrated here. But owing 



232 

to the turn in affairs at Hanover, I was comj^ellec. 
to return to Philadelphia and explain the reason 
of my inability to be in Philadelphia on Chrisanas 
day. Tuesday, 21st, I traveled with the oldest 
deacon from Providence to the city and saleh" 
reached it in the evening. Friday, 2_;.th, during;' 
last nio'ht a violent rain set in, which still continues. 
I promised to come to Hanover to-day. The 
Providence people furnished me with a strong- 
horse, which carried me safely on my journey ; but 
I was compelled to remain over night this side ot 
Hanover, on account of the rise in the water. 

"On Saturday, the 25th of December, namely, 
the first day of Christmas, I rode to the church and 
held service with a largely attended congregation, 
the two deacons from Providence being among 
those present. In the evening the elders and 
deacons of both congregations met and subscribed 
a certificate as follows: 'We, the elders and deacons 
of the Protestant Lutheran conofrerations at New 
Hanover, Providence and Philadelphia, do testify 
and affirm by subscription, that we have accepted 
with a thankful heart the Rev. Melchior Muhlenberg 
as a lawful called, ordained and by our supplications 
sent and represented minister of the gospel, by the 
Rev. Frederick Michael Ziegenhagen, His Majesty's 
Germa.i Chaplain and member of the Society 
for promoting Christian knowledge ; and j^romise 
to furnish our minister with the necessaries required 



233 

for his living- in the lawful vocation, and to assist 
him in every good disposition and direction, which 
he gives for our and our children's spiritual welfare, 
etc.: Dec. 25th, 1742.' Signed by the deacons 
and elders of the re.spective churches. 

"On the 26th of December, the second day of 
Christmas, I rode, in company with the deacons to 
Providence, where I found a laroc meeting, and 
preached to them upon the gospel of the day. 
We held service in the barn, but not without great 
inconvenience on account of the raw winds. There 
was aofain a larofe attendance of all sorts. After- 
wards rode wnth Mr. ]\Iarstellar over the two 
creeks and remained with him during the night. 

"On the 27th of December, started off early 
alone ; had twenty-one miles to the city, and bad 
roads ; fed my horse on the way, and reached town 
at one o'clock r. m. 



Chapter XXI. 
Gottlieb Mittleber(rers Book. 



^^■Jjjjij^HE description of a visit to Pennsylvania in? 
Q^^Jl 1 750"54» translated by Henry S. Dotterer, 
jg}^a^ with prefatory remarks : " In the year 



1756, Gottlieb Friderich Jenisch issued 
from his press in Stuttgart, a small book, entitled :. 
'Gottlieb Mittleberger's journey to Pennsylvania in 
the year 1750 and his return to Germany in 1754 ;- 
containing a description of the country in its pres- 
ent condition, as well as a detailed account of the 
unfortunate and pitiable circumstances of most of 
the Germans who have settled in that land and are 
moving thither.' It is from this book the following 
passages are taken. 

"It will be seen that IMittlebero-er brou'^ht from' 

Of *-> 

Heilbronn. in Wurtemberg, the organ for St.. 
Michael's Lutheran Church, Philadelphia, and during 
his stay here the organs for the churches of the 
same denomination at Trappe, New Hanover and. 
Lancaster were brought over. He arrived at. 
Philadelphia in the ship Osgood, William Wilkie,. 
master, last from Cowes. The male adult passen- 
gers to the number of 138, representing 4Sa souls,, 

234 



235 

signed the delaration of obedience to the laws, on 
the 29th of September, 1750. Among these was 
Gottlieb Mittleberger. It does not appear that he 
came with the intention of remaining in the country. 
While here he took occasion to examine closely 
the condition of the German immigrants. The 
results of his observations were, as a whole unfavor- 
able , to the infant State. While he saw much in 
the extent, fertility and salubriousness of Pennsyl- 
vania to commend, his judgment told him the 
German was much better off under the oppressions 
of the Fatherland than under the hardships to be 
encountered in the new world. The descendents 
of the sixth and seventh generations of those brave 
and hardy emigrants know how mistaken he was. 
The hundreds of thousands of Americans who trace 
their ancestry to these strong men will smile at 
the earnest notes of warning he sounded against 
undertaking the adventurous journey. He was 
sincere. He could not foresee the tremendous 
future of this country. What has come to pass was 
then beyond the power of man to know. ' He 
moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform.' 
" Mittleberger was a close observer. He noted 
particularly the characteristics of the country, the 
people and the customs which differed from those 
of his native land. He touched upon those matters 
of greatest interest to the Intending emigrants, and 
furnished a faithful portraiture of the condition of 



236 

the new-comers here. At that time this Abendland 
was to the people of Germany a wonderland. The 
distance, measured by time and the perils of travel, 
was vastly greater then between the two continents 
than now. 

" IMittleberger's book has a value of another sort. 
}^'^ brinofs us face to face with the customs and 
circumstances of those early times — stern realities 
which have novv from lapse of time and the lack of 
records come to be invested with somev/haL the 
romance of unreality. Not only this : our author 
took the precaution to question the old men of his 
day, who had come over in infancy with tlie earliest 
emigrants, and to note their graphic descrIp:ions of 
the really primitive times. This volume is found in 
two places in Philadelphia ; one copy on the sliel'-'^es 
of a public library, the other in the hands of a 
private collector of rare books. How many niore 
may be extant, it would be interesting to know. 
Certainly, the book must have had some circulation 
in Pennsylvania ; and the reasonable inference is 
that copies may have been brought over by emi- 
grants. It would seem that none of our historians 
have thus far met with this interesting publication. 
By none of the writers of Pennsylvania German 
history is it mentioned. The poet Pennypacker, 
however, in 'The Old Trappe Church,' has immor- 
taliz(^d in verse ' Gottlieb, colonial musician,' and 
' the sounds of his low melodies.' 



" The work is also preserved in Wurtemberg, 
although copies are rarely found. It is quoted by 
Professor Hartmann, and F. Mayer in answer to the 
question ' Who brought the first organ to America ?' 
exultingly answering 'He was good Swabian, the 
the oroanist and school-master Gottlieb Mittle't)',-.-- 
ger, of Enzweihingen, and the organ was built in 
Heilbronn. The work is dedicated to his Highness, 
Prince Charles of Wurtemburg, who read the book 
in manuscript, and it found his princely tavor. 
Mittleberger says : I started in the month of May, 
1750, from Enzweihingen, in the district of Vaihin- 
gen and my birth-place, for Heilbronn, where a 
completed organ was awaiting shipment to Penn- 
sylvania. With this instrument in charge I took 
the usual route, sailing down the Neckar and the 
Rhine to Rotterdam in Holland. At Rotterdam 
i embarked in a vessel carrying about 400 souls — 
Wurtembergers, Durlachers, Palatines. Swiss, etc. — 
which crossed the North Sea to Cowes, in England, 
and, after a nine days stoppage here, proceeded 
across the oreat ocean. On the loth of October, 
1750, I landed at Philadelphia, the capital of Penn- 
sylvania. From my home to Rotterdam occupied 
seven weeks, including the detention there — the 
unusual length of time was owing to the numerous 
stops on the Rhine — from Rotterdam to Philadel- 
phia the sea journey consumed fifteen weeks. I 



238 

wras nearly four years in the country, and, as my 
letter of recommendation shows, held the position 
of organist and schoolmaster in the German Augus- 
tus Church in Proviuence township, and gave 
private instructions in music and the German lan- 
guage at the house of Captain Von Diemer, as the 
following certificate states : 

" Whereas the Bearer, Mr. Mittleberger, Musick 
Master, has resolved to return from this Province 
to his native Land, which is in y Duckdom of Wir- 
tenberg in high Germany : I have at his Request 
granted these Lines to certify tliat y above nam'd 
Mr. Mittleberger has behaved himself honestly, 
diligentl)-, and faithfully in y Offices of Schoolmas- 
ter and Organist: during y Space of three years: 
in y Township of New Providence, County of Pliil- 
adelphia and Province of Pennsylvania, &c. So 
that I and all his em[)loycrs were entirely satisfied 
and would willingh' have him to remain with us. 
But as his call obliges him to proceed on his long 
journey: we would recommend y s'd ]\Ir. Mittle- 
berger to all Persons of Dignity and character ; and 
beg their assistance, so that he may pass and repass 
until he arrives at his Respective Abode ; which 
may God grant, and may y Benediction of Heaven 
accompany him in his journey. Deus benedicat 
surceptis ejus unci ferat eum ad amicos suos maxima 
prosperitate Dabam, Providcntics Philadelphia? 



239 

Commitatu Pennsylvania in America die 25 Apr. 
A. D. 1754. John Dieimer, Cap. 

Sam. Kennedy, M. D. 
T Henry Pawling, Esq. 

Henry Marsteller. 

Matthias Gmelin. 

" I made myself carefully acquainted with the state 
of the country, and what I have written Is partly my 
own experience, and partly gathered from trust- 
worthy persons In a position to know whereof they 
speak. I could. Indeed, have related much more 
had it occurred to me that I should ever be called 
upon to publish anything regarding Pennsylvania ; 
for which task I did not consider myself well fitted. 
Only the misfortunes which I myself endured upon 
my journey thither and hither (for in that country 
itself I fared well, having readily obtained a good 
livelihood and having gotten along well) and the 
wicked devices which the Newlanders tried to play 
upon me and my family, as I shall hereafter relate, 
awakened in me a sense of duty not to conceal that 
which I knew. 

"The most important object of this little work 
■was the miserable and distressful condition of those 
who migrate from Germany to this new land, and 
the Inexcusable and remorseless dealings of the 
Dutch traffickers In human beings and their man- 
stealing emissaries, the so-called Newlanders, for 



240 

they entrap, as it were, the people of Germany, by 
means of all sorts of plausible deceptions, and 
deliver them in the hands of the great Dutch sellers 
of souls. The latter derive a large, and the New- 
landers a small profit from this trade. This, I say, 
is the principal reason for the publication of this 
book. I am bound by a vow to the performance 
of this duty. For before I left Pennsyvania, as it 
became known that I intended to return to Wur- 
temberg, many Wurtembergers, Durlachers and 
Palatines, of whom many are there, who every 
day of their lives bemoan and bewail their lot in 
having left their Fatherland, besought me with tears 
and upraised hands, for God's sake, to make known 
to Germany their misery and heart pangs, so that 
not only the common people but also the princes 
and nobility, miglit know their experience, and that 
innocent souls might no more be persuaded by the 
Newlanders to leave the Fatherland and be led into 
a life of slavery. 

" The journey takes from the beginning of May 
to the end of October, an entire year, and is 
attended with hardships impossible to describe. 
The reason is the Rhine boats from Heilbronn to 
Holland have to pass by thirty-six customs towns, 
at all of which an examination was made at the 
convenience of the customs officers. By this means 
the boats and their passengers are detained a long 
time, compelling the emigrants to spend a great 



241 

deal of money. Thus the passage on the Rhine is 
made to consume four, five, or six weeks. When 
the passengers at last reach Holland they are again 
detained four, five to six weeks. As everything is 
very dear here, the poor emigrants are forced to 
spend nearly all their means. They are liable to 
many sad accidents here. I saw with my own eyes 
a man lose two children by drowning, as he was 
embarking with his family at Rotterdam. The 
ships in making the passage from Holland to Cowes 
in England, when met with contrary winds, often 
take two, three or four weeks, but with favorable 
winds the passage is made in eight days or less. 
Here a thorough examination is made and the cus- 
toms dues are collected, and it sometimes happens 
that here the ship lies at anchor, eight, ten or four- 
teen da)'s, or even longer, until she is fully loaded. 
During this time every one must spend of his little 
remaining money and provisions, which he intended 
to take with him for the sea voyage, so that most 
' persons afterwards, upon the wide ocean, when 
they need comforts more, suffer the pangs of hunger 
and want: many, indeed, often find themselves in 
c^reat need already on the passage between Holland 
nd England. When, finally, the ship in Old Eng- 
ind, at the city of Cowes, raises anchor for the 
long voyage, the misery actually begins. For it 
often takes from eight to twelve weeks to make the 
voyage to Philadelphia when unfavorable winds are 



242 

fencountered ; when, however, the winds are favor- 
able, it only takes seven weeks. During the 
voyage a deplorable condition of things exists on 
board — stench, mould, vomiting, diseases incident 
to the sea, fevers, diarrhoea, headache, costiveness, 
scurvy, cancer, soreness of the gums, and the like, 
all of which are caused by the strongly salted food 
and meat, and by the foul and dirty water, of Vvhicli 
many become wretchedly sick and die. There is 
■also lack of the necessaries of life, and hunsfer, thirst, 
^chills, fever, dampness, fears, need, quarreling; and 
lamentation, besides other miseries ; for example, 
want of cleanliness. The misery reaches its highest 
pitch when there is a storm of two or three days 
and nights duration, when every one fears the ship 
and all its passengers will go to the bottom. In 
such a situation the people utter shrieks and p-rayers 
in dire confusion. 

" In a storm the sea rages and foams ; sometimes 
the waves roll mountain high, and sometimes they 
dash upon the ship as though to sink it ; the ship is 
beaten every moment by the storm and waves irom 
one side to the other, so that it is impossible either 
to walk, sit or lie, and the closely packed passen- 
gers in their berths are thrown together in a con- 
fused mass, the well with the sick. It can readily be 
imagined that such hardships, which none had looked 
for, necessarily debilitate many beyond their power 
to endure, I myself suffered a severe illness on the 



243 

sea, and know ven,' well what feelings I experienced. 
The wretched people are often in great fear, and I 
frequently engaged with such in singing, prayer and 
comforting words, thereby consoling .them, and 
when it was possible, and the wind and the waves 
permitted, held an hour of prayer with them on 
deck ; and I baptised five children in cases of 
ex;tremity because we had no ordained clergymen 
aboard. I also held service every Sabbath by read- 
ino; a sermon, and at the orlvlno- to the waves of the 
dead commended to the good Lord the souls of the 
dead and the llvine. 

" Among the well persons, the spirit of discontent 
becomes so strong and Irrepressible that one will 
call down curses upon the others, or upon himself, 
or upon the day he was born, and sometimes they 
are almost ready to destroy each other, want and 
hunger both urging them, they deceive and rob 
each other. One blames the other of being the 
cause of undertaking the voyage. Oftentimes the 
children reproach their parents, the husband will 
blame the wife, and brothers and sisters, friends and 
acquaintances will threaten vengeance against each 
other; but most of all against the man-stealers. 
Many a one sobs and cries : ' Oh, if I were but once 
more at home, even though compelled to lie down 
with the cattle In their pens !' Another calls, 'Oh, 
good Lord, if I had but once more a morsel of 
good bread, or a drop of good fresh water !' Many 



244 

persons moan, and sob, and shriek for their homes 
most pitifully ; in addition to this most of them feel 
the pangs of homesickness. In the midst of so 
much misery naturally many sicken and die ; and 
must be cast into the sea, and their connections, or 
those who induced them to make the voyage, fre- 
quently attempt to follow them in their despair. 
It Is almost impossible to console such grief- 
stricken persons. In a word the sobs, shrieks and 
wailings continue day and night in the ship, causing 
the heart of the most hardened man who hears 
them to bleed. Sometimes the father dies upon 
the vovaofe, leavinir wife and children ; sometimes 
the mother, leaving little children ; or perhaps both 
parents, leaving little children ; and often whole 
families, one after another, so that the dead lie in 
the berths beside the living ; especially is this the 
case when infectious diseases rage in the ship. 

"That the majority of the passengers become 
sick is not to be wondered at, when we state that, 
with all these afflictions and miseries, cooked meals 
are served but three times a week, and very poor 
and very scant at that. These eatables are not 
relishable owing to their imcleanness, and the water 
supplied on the ship is often black, and thick, and 
full of worms, so that one cannot swallow it without 
aversion although burning with thirst. Ah, truly ! 
on the sea one would often pay a large sum of 
money for a piece of good bread, or a drink of 



245 

good water, to say nothing of a drink of good wine, 
were it possible to obtain them. 1 had to experi- 
ence such sufferings sufficiently. Sea water it is 
impossible to use, because it is salty and bitter as 
gall. If this were not so, the voyage could be made 
with much less cost and without incurring so many 
hardships. 

" Finally, when, after the wearisome and perilous 
voyage, the vessel nears the land, which the passen- 
gers have desired so anxiously and so longingly to 
see, all crawl upon the ship's deck to gaze upon it 
in the distance. When they discern the shores, 
they weep for joy, and pray, and sing to the good 
Lord in love, gratitude, and praise. The sight of 
the green earth gives the people on the vessel new 
life, even to the sick and half dead, making their 
spirits to leap and shout with gladness. They are 
willing to bear patiently all their miseries in the 
hope of soon landing in safety. But alas ! when 
the ship after the long voyage, arrives at Philadel- 
phia, no one is permitted to leave her, except such 
as can pay their passage money or can furnish good 
sureties ; those who have not the means with which 
to pay must remain on board until they are sold 
and are released from the ship by their purchasers. 
Now, the condition of the sick is the most serious, 
for the healthy are more readily and consequently 
more willingly purchased. The suffering sick often- 
times remain in the ship, lying in the harbor two to 



246 

three weeks, sometimes even dying. Many such, 
if able to pay their indebtedness, and permitted to 
leave the ship promptly, might have saved their 
lives. 

"The traffic in human beings at the ship market 
is conducted as follows : Every day Englishmen, 
Hollanders and high Germans from the city of 
Philadelphia, and from other places, sometimes from 
a distance of twenty, thirty or forty leagues, come 
to the newly arrived ship, which has brought pas- 
sengers from Europe and has them for sale; and 
select from the healthy persons those suited to their 
wants, and bargain with them as to the length of 
time they are willing to serve in payment of their 
sea passage, which usually they owe in full. When 
an agreement is reached, it happens that grown 
persons bind themselves in writing to serve for 
three, four, or five years, according to their strength 
and years, for their passage money. The quite 
young, from ten to fifteen years of age, must serve 
until they are twenty-one years old. Many parents 
trade and sell their own children like cattle, by 
which means only the parents, if the children assume 
the payment of the passage money, are released 
from the ship. As the parents do not know to 
what sort of persons or to what place their children 
will go, it often happens that parents do not see 
their children for many years after their departure 
from the ship, or it may even happen they will not 



aorain see each other durino; life. The wife must be 
responsible for her husband if sick, and likewise the 
husband becomes responsible for his sick wife, and 
assumes the passage money, and must serve not 
alone for himself, but also for his sick wife for a 
period of five to six years. But if both are pros- 
trated by illness, they are taken from the ship to the 
Hospital, not, however, before it is found impossible 
to find a purchaser. As soon as they recover they 
must serve for their fare, or, if they have property 
pay therefor. Often it happens, that the entire 
family — husband wife and children — become sepa- 
rated, by reason of having been bought by different 
persons ; this being the case when such persons can 
pay nothing whatever on account of their passage. 
" Work'and business in this new and wild country 
are hard and various, and many a one, who has 
but recently come in, is compelled to work hard, 
in his old age, for his bread. Of young persons I 
will say nothing. The principal occupations consist 
of cutting wood, felling oak trees, and pulling up 
and out, root and branch, large tracts of forest, ' to 
clear,' as it is there called. These forest lands are, 
after this turning upside down, divided into fields 
and meadows. From the best of the hewn wood, 
are made fences around the new fields, for all 
meadows, grass fields, fruit orchards and grain 
fields are enclosed and protected by timber raik 
made of thick split wood, laid one upon the other 



24S 

zig zag. In these enclosures the horned cattle, 
horses and sheep, are put out to pasture. Our 
Europeans, who are sold into service, must work 
hard, for new fields are constantly made, and in this 
way they find, indeed, that oak stumps stand as 
firmly in America as in Germany. I will relate the 
sad case of a Wurtemberger. In the fall of the 
year 1853, Bailiff Daser of Nagold, who was known 
to us, arrived at Philadelphia with his wife and eight 
children, under unfortunate circumstances. For 
there was stolen from him on the passage property 
of the value of eighteen hundred liorins, and in 
consequence he became Involved In a great law suit 
with the English ship captain at Philadelphia, by 
which he gained nothing, but had to pay heavy costs 
besides. Mr, Daser was to pay six hundred florins 
for passage for himself and family. But as he had 
been robbed of his money, all his moveable prop- 
erty including chests, were sold at a vendue for a 
mere triile, In consequence of which he and his wife 
were thrown into still greater distress. As he was 
about to borrow money to purchase a plantation, 
he was also deceived by the lender. He had agreed 
with the lender to return the borrowed money In 
two years, but the person who drew up the obliga- 
tion, or bond, as It Is here called, Inserted, at the 
instigation of the conscienceless lender, Instead of 
two years, two days. 

" Mr. Daser signed this, not knowing that he 



249 

was bringing misfortune upon himself, for he did 
not understand English. Because he did not 
return the money in two days, everything he had 
was sold, and even taken from his person {JV. B. — 
He had not even received the money, having 
allowed the time — two days — to elapse through 
his own incautiousness and because of all kinds of 
deception on the part of the lender). Yes, he 
would even have been cast into prison, or would 
have to sell his children, if he had not been through 
my intercession, rescued by Captain Diemer, who 
has at all times cared for the Germans. Captain 
Diemer, after this, through compassion furnished 
him food, money, beds and a home, until the law 
suit was ended, and made kindly Intercession, by 
reason of which Mr. Daser was saved from being 
placed in the Debtors' Prison. At my departure 
Captain Diemer promised Mr. Daser and me, giving 
lis his hand upon it, that while he lived he would in 
I'jture help the Daser family to procure their bit oi 
bread. Mr. Daser was eight weeks a guest at our 
table, and slept with me ; he has, however, in trutii, 
become low-spirited and weak in mind by the many 
sad trials through which he has passed. His two 
eldest unmarried dauohters and his eldest son, were 
shortly before my departure, compelled to bind 
themselves to service. In writing, each one for a 
term of three years. Every year while I was there, 
from twenty to twenty-four vessels with Immigrants 



250 

arrived at Philadelphia, making- in four years an 
aggregate of over 25,000 souls, not including those 
who died on the sea or other portion of the journey,, 
and excluding those vessels which sailed with immi- 
Sfrants to other Enoflish colonies, such as New 
York, Boston, Maryland, New Scotland, and Caro- 
lina. In consequence of the numerous arrivals the 
colonies filled up, and human beings became of very 
small value in specie in the city of Philadelphia. 
That, in spite of this, so many citizens move to 
America and in particular to Pennsylvania, is owing 
to the swindles and deceptions of the socalled New- 
landers. These man stealers deceive persois of 
all conditions and professions, among them sokl'ers, 
scholars, artisans and mechanics. They lead astray 
the people of princes and the gentry, and hand 
them over for sale at Rotterdam and Amsterdam. 
They receive from the merchants for each person 
of ten years or older three florins or one ducat ; 
on the other hand, the merchants received for one 
person at Philadelphia sixty, seventy or ei;^hty" 
florins, varying according to the debt incurred by 
the passenger on the voyage. When a Newlander 
has gathered a ship load of passengers, and it does 
not suit him to go to America, he will stay behind 
and spend the Winter in Holland or elsewhere. 
The following Spring he will again take the money 
of the merchants, travel about and announce that he 
has come from Pennsylvania for the purpose of 



2;i 



purchasing all sorts of wares and leading emigrants 
thither. Frequently the Newlanders state that they 
have authority from their countrymen or the magis- 
trates there, to collect inheritances, and that they 
are willing by this safe and convenient opportunity 
to take with them their friends, kinspeople or even 
father or mother ; and it often happens that aged 
people follow them in the hope, as they were made 
to believe would be the case, of being better 
cared for. 

"In Pennsylvania and in other English colonies 
the Newlanders who go to Europe are often 
entrusted with many letters. When they reach 
Holland they allow the letters to be opened, or they 
open them themselves, and (the painful truth must 
be written) the letter is copied falsely, or perhaps 
thrown away. I have heard one of these thieves 
relate in Pennsylvania, that in Holland plenty of 
persons, and certainly Jews, could be found, who, 
for a very litde money, would engrave seals and 
imitate handwriting perfectly, as desired. They are 
so expert in copying every stroke and letter, mark 
and characteristic, that the person whose handwrit- 
ing has been imitated, would a:dmit that it was his 
own. By such acts they deceive persons who are 
far from credulous, and accomplish their wicked 
purposes the more surely. 

" I must here mention a matter omitted at the 
proper place. The forenoon following the anchor- 



252 

ing before Philadelphia of a ship with a load of 
immicrrants, all the males above the aofe of fifteen 
are taken out of the vessel, taken in a boat to the 
wharf, landed, and marched two by two to the 
Court House or City Hall. Here they must swear 
allegiance to the Crown of Great Britain. When 
this is done, they are again taken back to the ship. 
After this only, the trade in human beings begin, as 
■described. I have merely to add this, that in pur- 
chasing, the persons asks neither for certificate nor 
good name. If one had escaped the rope and had 
it still around his neck, or if he had left both his 
ears in Europe, it would be no obstacle in his wa\^ 
in Pennsylvania. If, however, he allowed himself to 
commit excesses here, there is no escape. For 
gallous and wheel-deserving people Pennsylvania is 
therefore a desirable place. 

" Philadelphia is the capitol of Pennsylvania, in 
which commerce is carried on; and is quite large, 
handsomely built according to a plan, with broad 
streets and numerous cross streets. All the houses 
are built of stone or brick, and are raised as high as 
four stories, and they are roofed with cedar shingles. 
It takes a day to go around the city, and every year 
three hundred new houses are erected. It is 
believed in time it will become one of the largest 
cities in the world. The principal language and 
the common law is English. There is neither wall 
nor rampart, being deemed unnecessary. On both 



253 

sides are navigable waters — on the East the Dela- 
ware, and on the West the river Schuylkill — which 
unite below the city. There is a newly built splendid 
Court House or City Hall, with four doors and four 
entrances. It is one hundred feet long and one 
hundred feet wide, stands in an open place, and has 
on the four sides large English plate windows. In 
this city are already eight churches, three English, 
three German, one Swedish, and one Quaker. 

" Greater freedom exists here than in other Eng- 
lish colonies, and sects of every belief are tolerated. 
You meet here Lutherans, Reformed, Catholics, 
Quakers, Mennonites, Herrenhuter or Moravian 
Brethren, Seventh Day Baptists, Dunkers, Presby- 
terians, the New Born, Free Masons, Separatists, 
Free Thinkers, Negroes and Indians. Still the 
Evangelical and Reformed compose the greater 
number. Of the unbaptized persons and who do 
not desire baptism, there are many hundred souls ; 
many pray neither morning nor evening, neither 
before or after meals. Among such people will be 
found no religious books, much less the Bible. In 
one house may be found a family whose members 
believe in four, five or six different creeds. 

"In Pennsylvania there is no profession or occupa- 
tion regulated by law ; every man can deal in, or 
carry on what he will, or can. If any one wishes, 
or is able to do so, he may conduct ten different 
pi-ofesslons, and no one dare prevent him. And if. 



254 

for instance, a youth in half a year acquires a 
knowledge of his art or trade, he can pass for a 
master and he may marry when he chooses. It is 
veniarkable that the young people, who were born 
in this new country, are very quick to learn, apt aiid 
skillful ; for many a one, after examining a line 
piece of work will make one like it, while in Ger- 
many it would take a man several years to learn 
to make a perfect one. Here also are many farm- 
ers capable of making many ingenious articles in a 
short time. When these young people have at- 
tended school for half a year they can generally 
read any book put before them. 

Pennsylvania is a healthy country, has mostly 
fertile soil, good air and water, many mountains, 
and much even land ; it is thickly wooded, and 
where not inhabited is an unbroken forest through 
which many large streams flow. The soil is very 
productive and grains of all kinds yield abundantly. 
It is already populous, inhabited far and wide, and 
in it several new towns have been founded, viz : 
Philadelphia, Germantown, Lancaster, Rittingstaun 
(Reading), Bethlehem and New Frankfort. Many 
churches have also been built in the country, but 
many persons have from two to ten leagues to go 
to church. Every one, male and female, goes to 
church on horseback, even if the distance is but 
half a league. This also is the custom at v.'eddtngs 
and funerals. At weddino^s and fLin;irals \n the 



255 

■coui>try as many as three to five hundred persons 
•on horseback may be counted. 

" I will describe more in detail the burial custom. 
When a person dies in the country, where the habita- 
tions are widely separated by the plantations and 
woodlands, the time appointed for the burial is 
announced to the four nearest neighbors only, and 
they in turn notify their next neighbors. In this 
manner fhe funeral notice in twenty-four hours 
travels over a circuit of more than fifty English 
miles. If possible, at least one person from every 
house attends the funeral at the appointed time, 
coming on horseback. While the people are 
assembling a slice of sweet-cake is handed to those 
present, and a cup of warm West India rum con- 
taining lemon, sugar and juniper berries, which are 
highly esteemed there. After this a drink of the 
juice of fruit, made warm and .sweet is handed 
around. The custom at a burial in America is 
siir 'lar to that at a v/edding in Europe. When the 
people have all assembled, and the time for the 
burial has come, the corpse is carried to the general 
burying ground, or, if that is too far off, the body is 
buried, perhaps in a field of the farm of the deceased ; 
and those assembled all ride in silence after the 
coffin ; sometimes as many as one, two, three, four, 
to five hundred persons on horseback may be 
counted. The cofifin Is made of fine walnut and 
varnished. The colons of persons of means are. 



256 

oi'namented with handsomely wrought brass handles 
by which they are Hfted and borne to tl"ie grave. 
When the deceased is a youth four maide4is bear 
him to the grave ; on tlie contrary a deceased 
maiden is bourn by four unmarried associates, 

"It is in that counti?^' not uncommon to hear 
quite uneducated men preach in the open air, for 
the sectarians hold that the learned of the present 
time are not Apostles, and that they make their 
learning a mere trade. On the other hand there 
are m Pennsylvania many earnest ministers, who 
have by the grace of God and by untiring effort 
Brought many to the christian belief; I can bear 
witness that our Evangelicals (Lutherans) have 
ba^^tizcd and confirmed many grown persons, both 
white and black. On such occasions a great multi- 
tude come together. There are in PennsyWania 
many wortliy English, Swedish, Hollandish and 
German ministers. I am well acquainted with the 
following : Among the English, the three brothers 
Dennent (Tennant) and ]\Ir. Datt. Three Swedish 
who have widi our ministers a very close union, 
having annually a joint conference. The German 
BvangelicpJ Lutheran ministers are ; Rev. INIr. 
Muhlenberg, Senior, at Providence and New Han- 
over, xMr. Brunholz, in Philadelphia, Mr. Hand- 
ichuh, in Germantown, Mr. Kurz, in Tulpehocken, 
Xir. Wagner, in Readingstown, Mr. Heinzelman, in 
I'hiladelphia, Mr. Schulz, Mr. Weygand, Mr. 



257 

:^chwenk, Mr. Schartel, at the Blue Mountains, Mr. 
Hartvvick, in New York, Mr. Gorock, at Lancaster. 
The Reformed are : Mr. Schlatter, Mr. Steiner, 
Mr. Siebele, Mr. Weiss, Mr. Michael, Mr. Streitter, 
and Mr. Laidig, besides the Dutch and others 
whose names are not known to me. 

" No ministers in Pennsylvania are entitled to 
any stipend or .titles ; they receive only what is 
contributed by their church members during the 
year, which is very uncertain and variable ; some 
heads of families s^ive accordingr to their means and 
pleasure, yearly, two, three, four to six florins, many 
hiowever give very little. At Infant cliristenings, 
funerals, and marriages the pastor usually receiver, 
a thaler. The clergy are not furnished free dwel- 
ling-houses or other similar advantages. They 
receive many gifts from their catechumens. The 
same applies to the schoolmasters. Since the year 
1754 England and Holland give a large sum of 
money, yearly, to support six English Reformed 
churches and as many English free schools for the 
general use of the many poor in Pennsylvania. 
Many hundred children, on account of the great 
distance and many forests, are unable to attend the 
schools. Owing to this many of the planters lead 
quite a barbarous and heathenish life ; for as it is 
with the schools, so it is with the churches, because 
usually the churches and schoolhouses are erected 
at the place where most of the neighbors or church 



258 

members reside. The pastors in Pennsylvania 
have no power to punish any one, or to compel any 
one to attend church, nor have they any authority 
to correct one another because they are not subject 
to any higher authority. The minister is hired by 
the year as are the herdsmen in Germany, and 
when he does not preach to their liking, his services 
will be dispensed with, and one who \.'ill please 
them v/ill take his place. It is, for this reason, very 
difficult to be an upright minister ; the more so as 
he has to suffer and to contend with much from tJK- 
many opposing ar.-d in part Godless sects. The 
most exemplary ministers are often, especially in 
the country, ridiculed, abused and mocked to their 
faces, like Jews. I would therefore rather perform 
the meanest herd service in Europe than be a min- 
ister in Pennsylvania. Such unheard of coarseness 
and wickedness are the result of the excessive 
liberty in the land, and the blind zeal of the sects. 
To many in Pennsylvania the freedom they enjoy is 
more harm than good both in body and in soul. 
There is a saying: 'Pennsylvania is the larmers" 
heaven, the mechanics Paradise, and the officials' 
and ministers' pandemonium.' 

" The drinks in Pennsylvania are main-. First, 
excellent and healthful water; second, a mi.xtrire of 
milk and three parts water; third, good apple cider ; 
fourth, small beer; fifth, delicious Englisli and 
.strong, sweet beer ; sixth, a so-called punch, made 



259 

ot three parts water and one part West India rum 
(if rum cannot be had, whiskey is taken, rum, how- 
ever, is far preferable) mixed with sugar and lemon 
juice ; seventh, Sangaree, which is still more choice, 
and is made of one part Spanish wine, with sugar 
and nutmeg ; and eighth, German and Spanish 
wines are to be had in plenty in all drinking houses, 
the last named costing a reichs thaler per quart. 
The mixed drinks are served in porcelain vessels, 
called bovv'ls, formed like a soup dish. 

*' All professions and trades have plenty to do ; 
no beggars are seen, for each district maintains and 
cares for its poor. In the country the people live 
a considerable distance from each other, often from 
a mile to a mile and a half from their nearest neio'h- 
bors. The reason of this is, many proprietors hold 
fifty, or a hundred, or even as many as four hundred 
acres, divided into orchards, meadows, farm land, 
and woodland. A plantation of this size, usually 
has ten, fifteen or twenty acres of orchard, and from 
the fruit grown large quantities of cider and whiskey 
are made. 

*' Peach and cherry trees are planted by many 
landholders all along the avenues from one planta- 
tion to another and they produce in abundance. 
One kind of peach is red inside and outside, as 
large as a lemon, but round and smooth, and ripens 
about St. Bartholomew's Day. There are alsO' 
yellow, red-streaked, and green peaches. Still 



200 

another species named the cling stone, is sweet 
when ripe ; tiiese are, when not quite niatured, 
pickled iii-:e cucumbers. Pears, on the contrary, are 
scarce; plums do not succeed, being" often injured 
by mildew. Each planter keeps his cattle, horses 
and sheep in pastrjres upon his own premises, or 
allows them to run at larqe in the thickets, and 
evening' and morning the cows are brought home 
to be milked and then allowed to run at large 
aofain. hi this wav the live stock" susL^ains itself, 
saving the labor of feeding them dai-ly, as in Ger- 
many ; and during die entire Summer not one js 
put into a stable, except when a cow is about to 
drop a calf; frequenth', however, search is made 
in the woods, and old and }-oung are found together ; 
or, the cow with the cali' comes u-nexpectedly to 
the house. For this reason, also, there is not 
needed in all the Province a sheep or cattle herdfe- 
man. the stock being turned either into the enclosed 
fields or into the woods where there is plenty of 
pasture and in many places much goes to waste. 

"In Pennsylv^ania, as indeed all of over North 
America, from Acadia to Mexico, grow wild black 
and white grapes, which grow up on oak trees and 
other supports. Many grape vines are at the 
ground as thick as a tree, and often hang so full of 
grapes that the branches of the; tree bend under 
their weight. When blossoming thay have a strong 
odor, and in October they ripen. Little wine is 



26l 

rtiade, however, because much sugar is required. 
Many grapes are taken to Philadelphia to market. 
It would much improve these grapes if they were 
trimmed as in Europe, but as the inhabitants here 
live so far apart, and the numerous game and birds 
waylay the grape plant all the time, it is not likely 
much wine will be made. 

" Sassafras trees, which are not found in Europe, 
are very numerous here. An effective tea for colds 
is made of the blossoms ; the wood and root of this 
tree is also used as medicine. Some of these trees 
are of the thickness of a man's body ; the leaves 
look and smell like laurel leaves ; the flowers, how- 
ever, are a golden yellow, like the primrose but 
much smaller. I gathered and took with me a 
package of sassafras blossoms, which proved to be 
my best medicine on the voyage. Sugar maple 
trees are also found in oreat numbers ; these are 
as thick and as high as oaks. In the spring of the 
the year, when they are in full sap, the sugar water 
can be tapped, have tried this myself in March, 
when the sap began to flow ; cutting into a tree 
near the ground through the bark and inserting the 
tube of a quill, through which the maple water 
flows, as when whiskey is clarified. In a quarter 
of an hour I had a glassful of sugar water. The 
people here, who gather the maple water, fill a 
kettle with it, let the water boil until it is thick, 
and when cooled it is a thick honey. The sugar 



263 

.Tiaple trees stand generally beside the water brooks 
in the forests and grow wild. The beautiful tulip 
trees grow here abundantly. In the month of May 
when they blossom they are covered with tulips, 
colored flaming yellow and red, and almost as 
natural as those which grow upon the ground. The 
trees are as thick and as high as the largest cherry 
trees. I have seen another tulip tree in bloom 
which is cultivated in gardens ; these, however, are 
not larger than the dwarf fruit trees ; They bloom 
in Aueust, havinof white and red flowers. The 
former and larger tulip trees do not bloom until 
twenty or more years old. In America are found 
entirely different kinds and species of trees, flowers 
and herbs, as well as grains. For example, the 
common and slightly regarded daisy is as scarce in 
Pennsylvania as the finest and rarest flowers are in 
Europe, so that it is grown as a choice flower in 
their gardens. Equally rare there is the juniper 
plant, which is valued more highly than the rose- 
mary with us, and the juniper berries are sold at a 
higher price than pepper corn. Juniper bushes are 
also planted in the gardens there. All other Euro- 
pean flowers and shrubs are equally scarce. That 
which is little esteemed in Germany is dear and 
scarce, and, on the contrary, that which is not re- 
garded as valuable here is costly in Germany. 
The Germans who have settled here grieve for the 
good things they have lost, especially do the Wur- 



263 

tv-y-i^ber^ers and Rhinelanders miss dieir excellent 
wines. 

" Walnut trees grow in indescribable quantities. 
This line coffee-brown hard wood is valuable and 
useful. Much of it is sawn and exportl^d to Hol- 
land, England, Ireland, and other countries, where 
it brings high prices. These walnut trees bear,- 
'. ca/.y, nuts, the size of ordinary apples, which yield- 
Mi. They have bark and leaves like our nut tree^. 
'ndian or wild cherry trees are not frequently seen; 
i have however eaten Indian cherries from these 
trees, but did not find them palatable like the Euro- 
o-?. \ The grandest ornaments of the forests are 
the beautiful and useful cedar trees, they grow 
mostly upon the mountains. Their wood has agree- 
able odor, has little sap, and particularly for organ 
pipes is exceedingly valuable, for the pipes made of 
this wood are of finer and clearer tone than those of 
tin, of which fact I have seen ample proof. The 
houses in Philadelphia are roofed entirely with 
cedar shingles. A roof of this wood, when a heavy 
rain falls, rattles like a copper or brass roof. 

" In this country no May-beatles are seen ; on 
the other hand, every five years a terrible army ot 
insects named Lockis (Locust) makes its appear- 
ance. They are somewhat larger than the May- 
beatles and are capable of inflicting great injury 
upon the crops in the fields and upon the forests. 
Red and white snails are not found here, and the 



264 

frogs have entirely different notes ; tliey do not 
croak, but they bark, and this barking- begins as 
early as March. 

" In America are found birds of species quite dif- 
ferent from those of Europe. Those entirely simi- 
kir to the European are crows, swallows, and tlie 
diminutive hedge sparrow. The American birds 
are formed in wondrous beauty, and their brilliant 
plumage and delightful singing cannot be sufficiently 
extolled, ist, there is a yellow birel with black 
wino's; 2nd, red with black winos ; ^rd, entirelv 
yellow ; 4rh, the starling, larger than ours, quite 
blue with red wings; 5th, vermillion, vrith a tuft 
upon the head ; 6th, entirely blue ; 7th, white with 
black wings ; 8th, vari-colored ; 9th, green with a 
red head ; loth, a species, black, white, and spotted, 
vvhich can Imitate the song and whistle of all birds ; 
this bird can mock successfully more than thirty 
birds in half an hour. There is another bird there 
which the whole Summer day calls out dlstlncth' 
' mach doch tort,' ' mach doch fort.' .Another, 
heard mostly in the night' calls : ' whip-poor-will, 
'•whip-poor-will,' and is called by this name. In 
Pennsylvania are found no storks, no cuckoos, no 
larks, no yellow hammers, no nightengales, no quail, 
no finches, no canar\- birds, no black birds, no red 
breasts, no vineyard favorites, no sparrows. 

"The most remarkable, not only in Pennsylvania 
but in tlie whole world, Is a little bird whicli is seer 



265 

very rarely. It is not as large as a May-beetle, but 
rather the size of a Qrold beetle. It flitters like 
gold, varying green, blue and red. Its bill is some- 
what long and sharp pointed as a needle, and its 
legs like fine wire. It feeds only on the honey ot the 
flowers, and is for this reason sometimes called the 
suijar bird. It builds its nest amono- the llowerino^ 
plants in the garden ; its nest is not larger tlian a 
cupping glass, yet four or five young are usually 
found in it. Its wings jiTOve with indescribable 
rapidity, and make a whizzing noise. When not 
flying it may usually be heard .singing subtily and 
charmingly ; that is, if fortunately it is possible to 
get in close pro.xiiiuty to one. I will not venture 
to state at how large a price this little bird is some- 
times sold to the wealthy. But they do not live 
long, because it Is impossible to give them suitable 
food. 

" In Pennsylvania are found during the Summer 
season many species of snakes and other reptiles ; 
especially is this the case in the Blue INIountains, 
where many snakes of ten, twelve, fifteen to eighteen 
feet in length have been seen ; and persons and 
cattle have often been fatally bitten by these fright- 
ful and dangerous creatures. They are white and 
black, green, gray, and black with yellow stripes. 
Of all these the rattlesnakes are the largest and 
nios: terrible ; yet the blacksnakes are by actual 
measure twelve to fifteen feet long, and as thick as 



200 

a man's arm, and the more obnoxious because of 
their marvelous powers to charm, and this they do 
simply by their gaze, under which all that comes 
before them, be it a rabbit, a bird, or squirrel, must 
descend from the tree and approach the snakes, 
when they, at last, draw it to themselves and devour 
it. They can also climb the highest oak and other 
trees, and have the power to charm little chil- 
dren so that they cannot move. When children 
are heard to shriek in liorror, it often happens, 
when rescued that large snakes are found King 
before theni. Some ratdesnakes are larger than 
the foregoing species; they have been tound eigh- 
teen feet long and as thick as a maple tree. This 
species has on the end of its tail rattles, which rattle 
so that they may be heard at a distance. They 
rattle only when the}' are angry or when they see 
some one. Ever)- year a rattle is added to the 
tail. These snakes have scales like fish, black, 
blue and green, presenting the appearance of mother 
of pearl. It has happened to persons who jive in 
the forest, that snakes have entered their houses 
and have crept into their bedding upon wdiich these 
persons slept at night. These persons when they 
had lain some time upon their beds, became too 
heavy for the snakes, who then became restless 
and were driven out of the house and killed. 
" In Pennsylvania there is a pretty sight, in the 
ni'dit, durin^r the Summer, when mvriad.; of fire 



20/ 

bugs fly in the air, giving the appearance of a fall of 
snow of fire. A few years since a newly arrived 
German was thrown into great terror of these 
insects. He had not been told about them, and 
had never before seen them. He was worlcing 
late in the evening in the field, when several fire 
bugs flew to and fro about him, which terrified 
simple Hans so much that he left his work and ran 
with all speed to his house. When, overcome with 
fear, he reach his family, he said, frightened and 
trembling: 'Oh, Lord, preserve me! How many 
fiery spirits hover about in this country ! Oh, dear 
Lord, if I were only once more in Germany.' 

"The savages, or Indians, who have intercourse 
with the English are very numerous, living beyond 
the Ohio, and beyond the Hudson, upon which 
Albany is situated : thus on both sides — to the right 
and to the left of Pennsylvania. I^oth these rivers 
are lartre and are about three hundred miles distant 
from Philadelphia. These savages live in huts in 
the forests, beyond these waters, and so far beyond 
that it has been found impossible to find the farthest 
limits of their habitations. The farther into the 
interior one goes the more savages are seen. They 
-ustain themselves in various ways ; some shoot 
oame, others di(j roots, others also trrow tobacco, 
and Indian corn, which they eat raw or boiled ; 
they trade in deer hides, beaver skins and valuable 
fur skins. 



20'S 

" The savages which Hve on the borders of the 
European settlements are frequently seen and some 
of them speak some English. I have several times 
seen entire families, and had, on one occasion, the 
opportunity, at the suggestion of Captain Diemer, 
to play the organ for a savage family, at which they 
became quite merry, manifesting their surprise and 
pleasure with motions of genuflections. Those 
ip.dians who wander about among the whites, 
instead of clothing wear blankets, such as are used 
to cover horses, wrapping them about their naked 
bodies. They have nothing upon their heads or 
feet. Their bodily formation docs not differ from 
ours, except that their skins are a dark yellow, 
w^hich, however, is not their natural color, for they 
])esmear and toast themselves. At birth they are 
as white as we are. The men and women have 
long and smooth hair ; the men do not wear a 
beard, and if in youth the beard begins to grow 
they pull out the hair, and they have, like the 
women, smooth faces. Owing to the iack of beard 
and to the similarity of the clothing worn, there is 
no difference is the appearance of the men and of 
the women. When these savages wish to beautify 
themselves, they paint their foreheads and cheeks 
red, and hang a large ornament from their ears. 

" Ever\- Fall the)' come in great numbers to the 
city of Philadelphia, bringing with them a variety of 
small baskets which thev make cleverly and neatl)', 



269 

skins of wild animals and desirable furs. Besides 
this, "vhen they have all assembled they will sell a 
tract of more than a thousand acres of land, which 
is still forest, to the Governor. Many presents are 
given to them in the name of the country and the 
city, such as blankets, gums, rum, whiskey, and the 
like, whereupon they become merry, especially 
wlien they become drunk, with their own most 
strange orgies. Some of them are very strong, 
stalwart and courageous. They address everybody 
in their own language, even the Governor, and 
they walk with the fleetness of a deer. When 
spoken to concerning the ever true God, the Cre- 
ator of Heaven and Earth, they do not understand 
it, and return only this reply : They believe this, 
there are two beings ; one good, the other evil ; 
the good made everything that is good, and the 
evil everything that is bad ; therefore it is not nec- 
essary to pray to the good for he will do no evil, 
but the evil one must be prayed to so that he will 
do no harm. 

"Of the resurrection of the dead, salvation, 
heav^en or hell, they know nothing. Their dead 
they bury where they die. I have been told by 
truthful persons that the savages slay their aged 
people and bury them, when by reason of advanced 
years they are unable to move about, or fall by the 
way. When, however, a savage takes the life of 
ano 'her person, when not in battle or on account of 



old age, be the murdered man of our or dieir 
people, he must die. They lead the malelactor 
before their Indian Kln<^ for trial, from there back 
to the place where he committed the deed, slay hini 
on the snot, burv him at once, and cover his i^rave 
vv'ith wood and stones. 

" When the savage people come to the city of 
Philadelphia, and here see the handsome and sump- 
tuous residences, they are amazed and they laugh at 
the Europeans for expending so much pains and 
money upon their houses, and say : * This is quite 
unnecessary, one can live without such houses ;' 
especially are the)^ astonished at the European cos- 
tumes and the costly adornments. 

" When two ::ava!^es ij'ive themselves in marria^re. 
the brideL;rooni at the betrothal places upon the 
bride a piece of a stag's foot, meaning thereby that 
he will feed his future wife with meat ; his I)ride 
ogives hini an ear of Indian corn, indicatin > thereb\" 
that she will pro\ide bread for her beloved husbr.nel 
and children. Thev care for each other, and . 
reniain together until death separates them. Old 
Indians have frequently been asked concernin 
their origin, to which they answered : They knew 
nothing and can say nothing but that their most 
remote forefadiers lived in this wilderness and that 
it is not right that the luH'opeans take tlu-ir lands 
irom them. In consequence of this they must con- 



2/1 

stantly move farther back into the wilderness for 
the means of sustenance. 

" The wonderful weapon of these wild people is 
simply a bent bow, In the middle of which in front 
they lay a sharp and pointed cut stone as long as a 
finger ; at the rear, this stone is an inch in width, 
and on both sides as sharp as a knife. They aim 
accurately, and when they have shot an animal, and 
it does not fall, they follow it until they capture it, 
for they can move with the speed of a horse. I 
have as evidence brought with me a stone of the 
kind with which the Indians or savages have shot 
game. This was their only weapon before they 
obtained guns from the Europeans. It is, too, 
interesting to hear the Indians sometimes complain, 
that, since the Europeans have come into the coun- 
try, they are visited by frequent snows, intense cold 
and tornadoes, and awful, heavy thunder storms, 
which before were unknown. This may or may 
not be true ; but the Indians ascribe these ■occur- 
rences to the Europeans, and for the reason that 
they, and principally the Germans, are most terrible 
blasphemers. 

"Rev. Mr. Schartel, who was formerly pastor at 
Zell and Altbach in the Duchy of Wurtemberg, but 
who Is now stationed as pastor in the township of 
Macungie at the Blue Mountains, in Pennsylvania, 
sixty odd miles from Philadelphia, made a remark- 



27- 

able discovery. In 1753, while seeking a path out 
of the wilderness, having- lost his way, he found on 
a hillock surrounded by a growth of trees, a stone 
doorframe, which was planted in the ground. At 
first he thought it a work of nature, but when he 
rubbed off the moss, with which it was overgrown, 
and examined it carefully, he found on the upper 
cross stone a Hebrew sentence engraved, contain- 
ing the following words : ' To this place did the 
God of Joshua keep us.' 

" When in this Province a couple desires to be 
united in m?.rriage, in opposition to the wishes of 
the parents and relatives on one or both sides, the 
couple rides off on one horse. Inasmuch as the 
lady has niore privileges than the gentleman, he 
must sic behind Kis beloved on the horse. In this 
position they ride to a justice and say to him : We 
have stolen each other ; pray unite us in marriage. 
When this has been done, no one, not even parents 
or friends, can throA' ::ny further hindrance in their 
way. 

" In Pennsylvania a man might travel a year 
without spending a Kreutzer, for it is customary, in 
this country, when a man with a horse comes to a 
house to ask the travellers : Will you have some- 
thing to eat ? Then some cold meat, which remained 
over at a previous meal, is set before the stranger. 
To this is added white bread, butter or cheese and 
plent\ to drink. If the traveller wishes to remain 



2/3 



over night, he and his hors? are kept free of charge. 
If one enters a house at meal time, he is immedi- 
ately invited to sit up to the table and partake of 
what is spread. There are, however, also inns, at 
which can be obtained whatever is desired. 

"The English ladies in Pennsylvania and the 
other English colonies have the same rights and 
privileges as the ladies of Old England. They are 
uncommonly handsome and well formed, generally 
gay in spirits, affable, very free in manner, spirited, 
shrewd, and skillful, but withal very proud ; they 
carry themselves in great state and expect much 
attendance from o^entlemen. The English eentlemen 
indulge them accordingly and hold them in high 
respect. A man dare not undertake to marry a 
woman unless he is able to maintain her without 
requiring her to work, otherwise she will make him 
unhappy or possibly leave, for no housework can 
be required of her except that which she is willing 
to do. They delight in visiting or going into com- 
pan\', whether it is agreeable to the husband or 
not. I would rather strike three men of the Enelish 
than . 'ap one woman. If a man strikes his wife, 
and he makes complaint to a neighbor's wife his life 
xS no longer safe. If this occurs a number of times, 
he will have to take to his heels, as she may put 
him in prison a long time, or possibly to the gallows. 
She cannot be compelled to take back her husband. 
That the English ladies arc in Q-eneral handsome is 



-74 

not to be wondered at, when we consider that from 
childhood their wishes are indulged, they take no 
coarse food or drink, they are not allowed to do 
work, and rarely go into the sunshine. The evi- 
dence of an English woman is accepted in court in 
preference to that of three men. It is said that 
they acquired these privileges as far back as the 
-time of Queen Elizabeth. 

" In the Blue Mountains several rich ores have 
been found, which have been as much as possible 
kept secret ; they consist, however, for the most 
part of copper, brimstone and iron, which yield rich 
returns. Several iron works and glass houses are 
in operation ; and large quantities of cast iron and 
glass work are shipped from this Province to Ire- 
land. England, Holland, and to the other colonies. 
In Pennsylvania, at a place well known to me, has 
been found a quarry of the very finest blue, white, 
and red marble, from which the English make 
handsome altars, drawing rooms and columns. 
P'our book printers have already established them- 
selves in Pennsylvania, namely, in Philadelphia, 
two — one English, the other German ; the third in 
Germantown, and the fourth in Lancaster. A 
number of grist, saw, oil, fulling, powder and paper 
mills are in operation ; also tanneries and potteries. 
and lime and brick kilns. There are German and 
PZnglish apothecaries in Philadephia ; indeed, no 
trade or occupation can be named that is not to be 



275 

met with in the city or in this new country. Even 
the traveUino;; Qrlaziers and the scissors Q^rinders 
have begun to make their rounds, who, to the 
English people, seem very odd and laughable. 
Nothing is wanting in this country more than wine 
production, as before stated ; but in time, I have no 
doubt, this will be carried on. 

" In Pennsylvania and the remaining English 
colonies are numberless negroes or blacks, who 
are doomed to serve as slaves all their lives. The 
price paid for a strong, industrious, half-grown 
negro is two, three, to three hundred and fifty 
florins. These black people marry after the Eng- 
lish manner. 

" I have met several persons who came, some 
seventy-five years ago, as children with the first 
immigrants. These have related how in the be- 
ginning things looked in this country, and how 
much misery they endured. It is easy to believe 
that the original settlers in this new and wild land 
suffered many hardships, for these few people must 
on account of the many surrounding Indians, have 
felt great fear. Nearly all employment was lacking ; 
their seedings they had to hoe in on account of the 
dearth of horses and cattle ; moreover, they had for 
many years after their arrival, to do without grist 
mills, and having to crush and grind the grain or 
kernels upon broad stones ; bread baking evidently 
was then poorly done. Worse than all, for a long 



27^ 

time no salt was to be had. Wood and meat was 
plentiful, for they shot all kinds of game, when 
powder was not wanting. For a long time a 
number of persons would own a single horse, until 
horses and cattle were imported from other coun- 
tries. On account of there existino- crreat number of 
large and small wild animals, snakes and vermin, 
they lived continually in fear and apprehension ;. 
for this reason, they had to keep going, day and 
night, around their huts, blazing fires to keep off 
bears, panthers and wolves, at present, however,, 
bears and panthers are rarely seen in Pennsylvania. 
" Indeed, several years ago, a large bear came to- 
Captain Diemer's place, in the night, climbed upon 
an apple tree and commenced to shake down 
apples just like a human being, upon which the 
dogs were aroused. The bear, however, paid no 
attention to them, and continued to shake down the 
apples. Finally, the master of the house, being 
made acquainted with the matter by the servants,, 
at once proceded, armed with two rifles, and accom- 
panied by the farm hands and dogs, to the orchard, 
and when he came near enough to the apple shaker 
to see him clearly in the moonlight, he gave him 
his compliments with a bullet ; upon which the 
wounded bear raged furiously and tumbled head 
over heels from the tree to the ground. As the 
beast was about to escape, the Captain shot again, 
upon which it made another somersault, and a third 



277 

bullet incapacitated it. The dogs were put upon it, 
and they finally choked it. This affair called forth 
great rejoicing among the neighbors. 

" The first and second days of May in Pennsyl- 
vania are devoted to a general jubilee, in which, 
principally, the unmarried people of both sexes take 
part. All amuse themselves in games, dancing, 
shooting, hunting, and the like. Those of the 
young people who are natives of that country, dec- 
orate their head coverings with a piece of the fur 
of a wild beast, and with it a picture of the wild 
beast, preferred by the wearer. Thus distinguished 
the young fellows walk about the city calling out, 
hurrah ! hurrah ! None dare place upon their hats 
these emblems unless they are born in this countr}', 
.and they are called Indians. 

" In Pennsylvania there is among all, in high or 
low condition, in city and country, this custorfi : 
when one enters a house, or meets another, he 
shakes hands first with the father and mother of 
the family, after which he greets, in the same 
manner, every one else present, 'although the 
room may be filled with persons at the time. 
This greeting and hand shaking is practiced with 
strangers as well as with the most intimate acquain- 
tances ; and the address made by the English as 
well as the Germans, always is : ' Good friend, how 
do you do ?' This agreeable custom is derived 
partly from the numerous English Quakers in 



27S 

Philadelphia, and partly from the Indians them- 
selves, who first performed this ceremony. To tell 
the truth, quarrels rarely occur between the people ; 
strangers trust each other further than acquamtances 
do in Europe. People are also more sincere and 
affectionate than in Germany ; from this cause our 
Americans live more quietly and peacefully than 
the Europeans, and this is the result of that freedom 
by which all are equal. 

" Music at this time is rather rarely heard. In 
the principal city, Philadelphia, there is no music 
either in the English or German churches. Occa- 
sionally several Englishmen will conduct a concert 
upon a spinet or clarichord, in a private house. I 
brought to this country the first organ, which is now 
in a Hiofh German Lutheran Church. This instru- 
ment was made in Heilbronn. When it was erected 
arid tuned, it was consecrated, with great rejoicings, 
to the glory, praise and worship of God by the 
Christian St. Michael's Church. At this great 
festival were present fifteen Lutheran clergymen, 
tOQ-ether with' the united consistories of all the 
evangelical churches. The audience was a vast 
multitude, many persons having come, as far as 
thirty to one hundred miles to see and hear the 
organ. The number of people, who were inside 
and outside the church, both German and English, 
w^as estimated at several thousand. On the second 
day of this solemn festival a conference was held 



279 

by the Lutheran pastors and consistories, at which 
I was selected as school-master and organist. As 
I became more widely known in Pennsylvania, and 
as the people learned that I brought handsome 
and excellent instruments, many English and Ger- 
man families came a great distance to hear and 
to see the organ, and they expressed wonder 
thereat, havinsf never before seen or heard such an 
instrument. There are now six organs in Penn- 
sylvania ; the first, in Philadelphia ; the second, in 
Germantown ; the third, at Providence ; the fourth, 
at New Hanover ; the fifth, at Tulpehocken, and 
the sixth at Lancaster, all of which were brought 
into the country during the four years that I 
remained there. 

"The English mode of dress prevails in Penn- 
svlvania, both for ladies and Qrentlemen. Ladies 
wear no hoop petticoats ; yet everything they wear 
is fine, neat and expensive. The gown and skirt 
are cut from one piece and sewed ; in front the 
gown can be parted, and under the gown the ladies 
generally wear a handsomely quilted' skirt, trimmed 
with ribbons ; the upper gown or skirt must reach 
to the shoes, and is made of cotton calico, or other 
rich and handsome material. The ladies always 
wear fine white aprons ; on the shoes usually large 
silver buckles, around the neck a fine color, at the 
ears expensive pendants with precious stones, and 
upon the head white caps embroidered with flowers, 



:5j 



and trimmed with lappets and laces. Their gloves 
are of velvet, silk or the like, and are generally 
trimmed with silver or gold lace, or expensively 
embroidered. Theii-i^peck handkerchiefs are either 
of velvet or of pure silk, and are likewise sump- 
tuously embroidered. When they go visiting or 
ride out on horseback they wear a blue or scarlet 
cloak, which covers half the person. Upon the 
head they wear black or other handsomely colored 
taffeta hats instead of straw bonnets ; these hats 
take the place of the parasol, but are much prettier. 
If our ladies should see these hats, they too would 
soon have them. Wlien they go on horseback 
they carr)- an expensive horsewhip or karabatsche, 
which is strong and made of hne wire, whalebone, 
or the like, and is finely wrought. The handle is 
usually made of red velvet, plush or tortoise sh^.l, 
ivory, mother of pearl, and frequently even of solid 
silver. These wliips the ladies carry when they travel 
in the country, or in the city when going to church, 
and they keep them in the hand when in church. 
Many ladies ride with the best horsemen for a 
wager. An English maid-servant in Philadelphia 
is dressed as finely as a lady of quality in Germany. 
The English ladies are usually pretty ; they wear 
generally false or colored hair. 

" Men's wearing apiparel, especially that of the 
English, is with the farmers as with persons of 
classes, quite expensive ; it is made of English cloth 



28l 

and material of that character ; and they wear fine 
shirts. They all wear wigs, the farmers as well 
as the retired persons. In Philadelphia they wear 
quite large and only fine bi*--s, and no wonder 
seeing that this is the home of the castor and 
beaver. In the Summer time beaver hats are_worn 
not turned up, especially is this the case in the 
country. At this season also are worn fine light 
coats, or only waistcoats, which are neatly made of 
delicate linen cloth or fustian. All gentlemen have 
their hair cut off short during the Summer, and 
w^ar only a cap of fine white linen, and upon this a 
hat not turned up. When visiting the hat only is 
taken off, not the cap. If one makes a journey of 
but three miles' length, he takes with him a long 
coat and a pair of boots, which are turned down 
hal." way and reach only to the middle of the calf. 
These precautions are taken on account of the 
.sudden chanijes of the weather. 

" in Pennsylvania all houses are massive and 
built of free stone, and are usually, when they stand 
separate, provided with English plate glass windows. 
Stoves are r.-.cly seen in the rooms ; instead all 
houses are supplied with French chimneys, before 
which all seat themselves, and drink their good 
English beer, and the like, or smoke their pipes of 
tobacco. When these chimneys are properly con- 
strjcted, no smoke is noticed. Before all houses, 
on both sides of the door, are built benches, reachino- 



282 

about four feet from the house ; at the front of both 
are posts which support a roof forming a structure 
somewhat like a Summer house. These benches 
or seats are not to be seen in the country only, but 
also in the city of Philadelphia before all houses. 
In the evening when the weather is favorable people 
sit upon them, or else go visiting. Owing to the 
sameness of the houses and the streets, one can see 
a great part of the city in half an hour, hi the city 
are seven principal churches, but only one tower,- 
which is, however, of great height and beauty. In 
all the city are only two small bells, and when they 
are rung, the people go to their several churches. 
The city and church authorities, joined the last 
year of my sta)-, in taking the preliminary steps 
towards procuring three bells of various sizes from 
London, in Old Eiigland. In the country none of 
the churches Iiave a tower, nor are they supplied 
with a bell or clock ; consequently to the new- 
comers, the evenings are very tiresome, until they 
become accustomed to the monotony. On the 
other hand, almost everybody, farmers as well as 
persons of leisure, carry silver watches ; and these 
are also generally worn by the English ladies. 

"On the 2 1st of September, 1752, the new 
calendar was introduced in Pennsylvania and in 
the other English American colonies. By this was 
jumped from the i ith of September to the 21st. 
This chano-e was not made without much opposition. 



283 

as well by members of the English church as by 
their sects. Especially did a number feel great 
solicitude because one Sunday, with its gospel, is 
entirely left out, and therefore is lost. 

" In the Province of Pennsylvania three principal 
roads are laid out, all of which make their start in 
Philadelphia, and extend into the interior as far as 
it is settled ; the first road leads to the right over 
the Delaware towards New Frankfort ; the second, 
or middle road, leads towards Germantown, Rittings- 
toun (Reading) and Dulppenhocken (Tulpehocken), 
and extends beyond the Blue Mountains ; the third 
leads to the left towards Lancaster and Bethlehem. 

"After a nine weeks voyage, on the loth of 
October, 1754, after enduring calamities, want and 
deadly dangers, we arrived safely at London on 
the Thames, on the identical day which, four years 
before, I stepped from the vessel in America. We 
all joined in heartfelt thanks to God, and kissed the 
earth for joy, and realized fully the force of the 
words of the 107th Plsam, which describes the 
terrors of voyagers upon the sea. To the Triune 
God, for this great mercy and care, be glory, praise 
and thanks, through time and eternity." 



Chapter XXII. 

The Desccndoits of Henry Antes. 

Tiiis table may not be absolutely perfect. Such 
a work can only be accomplished through the co- 
operation of all the descendents. But this is as 
good and as reliable as we have' been able to obtain 
at the present time. We have endeavored to insert 
only the names of those living, except in a few 
instances to show the line of ancestry. If any one 
can give us further information we will be pleased. 
The numbers indicate the generations starting with 
Henry Antes as i. When children of the same 
family follow, the line of descent is only given with 
the oldest. 

1_ Ann Catherine, born Nov^ember 8th, 1726. 
For some years she was Superintendent of the 
Single Sisters and Girls at Nazareth and Bethlehem. 
Subsequently became a resident at a Moravian set- 
tlement in Bethabara, North Carolina. She was 
wedded four times ; to Martin Kalberlahn in July 
29th, 1758; to Gottlieb Reuter; to Rev. John 
Casper Heinzman ; to Rev. John Jacob Erust. We 
have not been able to obtain the names of her 
descendents. She was a woman of great sweetness 

of character and intellicYence. 

284 



285 

2. Ann Margaretta, born September 9th, 1728'. 
In 1 743 she accompanied Zinzendorf to England 
and completed her education in the school of the 
United Brethren in London. Here she met and 
married in 1766 Rev. Benjamin Latrobe, a Mora- 
vian minister. They had four children. The eldest,. 
Christian Ignatius, became a minister, a traveler in. 
South Africa and an author, some of his children, 
became ministers, and one, a grandson, a distin- 
guished English engineer (T. Frederick Bateman 
of London). The second son, Benjamin Henry, 
was a traveler, soldier and architect. He was the 
architect of the central building of the Capital at 
Washington, and many other prominent public 
buildings. The Latrobes of Baltimore are his 
descendents. The third son, John Frederick, be- 
came a distinguished M. D. at Dorpat in Livonia,. 
Russia. 

1,2, 1,2. Peter Latrobe, Sec'y of Moravian Church, 

in England. 

4. Rev. John Antes Latrobe Kendall^ York- 

shire England. 

5. Charles Joseph Latrobe, Ex- Lieut. Gov. 

Melbourne, Australia. 
I, 2, 2, 4. John H. B. Latrobe, Baltimore. 

5. Julia E. Latrobe. 

7. Benj. Henry Latrobe. Ex-Chief Engineer,. 

Baltimore & Ohio, R. R. 
I, 2, 2, 4, I. Ferdinand C. Latrobe, Baltimore.. 
I, 2, 2, 4, I, I. Thomas Swann Latrobe, 



286 

2. Charlotte Fernan Latrobe. 

3. Ellen Virginia Latrobe. 

1.2.2.4.3. Richard Stcuart Latrobe, Towson Balti- 

more county. 
I, 2, 2, 4, 3, I. Mary IMactier Latrobe. 

2. Osmun Latrobe. 

3. Emily Mactier Latrobe. 

4. Edna Claiborne Latrobe. 

1.2.2.4.4. Virginia Cogswell, Brunswick, N. Jersey. 
I, 2, 2, 4, 4, I. J. H. B. Latrobe Cogswell. 

I, 2, 2, 4, 5. Lydia Loring, Washington D. C. 
I, 2, 2,4, 5, I. Lydia Latrobe Loring. 

2. Jean Loring. 
I, 2, 2, 6, I. Charles H. Latrobe, Baltimore. 
I, 2, 2, 6, I, I. Gamble Latrobe. 

2. Elise McKim. 

3. I^leanor Baynton Latrobe. 

I, 2, 2, 6, 2. B. H. Latrobe, Wilmington, Delaware. 

I, 2, 2, 6, 2, I. Laurason Latrobe. 

1,2,2,6,3. Mary Onderdonk, College of St. James, 

Maryland. 
I, 2, 2, 6, 3, I. Adrian Onderdonk. 
I, 2, 2, 6, 5. Eleanor Vinton, Boston, Mass. 
I, 2, 2, 6, 5, I. F.leanor Vinton. 

2. Hazel Vinton. 

3. Pamela B. Vinton. 

I. 2, 2, 6, 4. Catharine Weston, Baltimore. 
I, 2, 2, 6, 4, I. Latrobe Weston. 

2. Henry Weston. 

3. Arthur Weston. 

3, Philip Frederick, born July 2d, 1 730. He 
was three times appointed justice of the peace in 



28/ 

Philadelphia Co., and was an ardent patriot in the 
Revolution. A reward was laid on his head by the 
British. He was a man of rare ability and intelli- 
gence, and possessed great mechanical skill. In i 776 
he and Mr, Potts at Warwick P\irnace cast tJie first 
cannon, an eighteen pounder, cast in America. H^ 
was a member of the Provincial Council, a judge of 
election in Philadelphia Co., July 8th, 1776, a mem- 
ber of state convention of July 15th, 1776, member 
of the General Assembly, was colonel of Philadel- 
phia Co. militia, was one of the persons designated 
to sign the issue of $200,000 paper money issued 
April loth, 1777. 1779 removed to Northumber- 
land Co., being impoverished by the war. Here 
he was justice, county commissioner, judge of Court 
of Common Pleas, member of State Assembly and 
county treasurer. Died in Lancaster September 
20th, 1 80 1 , He left a large number of descendents 
by his first wife. By his second wife he had one 
daughter, who became the second wife of Simon 
Snyder, afterward Governor of Pennsylvania. His 
youngest son. Antes Snyder, was kidnapped, and 
the sensation spread all over Pennsylvania. He 
(Antes Snyder) graduated at West Point, became 
a prominent engineer, in i860 was chief engineer 
of Reading Railroad. We find that among his 
descendents are a number of distinguished engineers. 
I, 3, 2, 8, I. Oscar M, Bering, Columbus, Wisconsin. 
I, 3, 2, 8, 1,2. Campbell, Milwaukee, Wis. 



2Si; 

I, 3, 2, S, I, 3. Guy V. Deling, Columbus. 
I, 3, 2, 8, 2, I. Oscar E. Bering, Texas. 

2. Addic Bering Jones, 

I, 3, 2, 8, 4. Philip Frederick Bering, Darlington, Wis. 
I, 3, 2, 8, 4, I. Charles Lewis Bering. 

3. Kemper Bering. 

I, 3, 2, 8, 5. Charles L. Bering, Portage, Wis. 

I, 3, 2, 8, 5, I. Jessie Giberson Bering. 

2. Toma Taylor Bering. 

3. Charles Maxwell Bering. 

1,3,4,2,1. Antes Huber (deceased) — widow (Caro- 
line) resides in Myerstown, Lebanon 
Co., Pa. 
5. William E. Huber. 

Mrs. Sarah A. Craig, Wymore, Sage 
Co., Neb., wife of Henry Antes Winther. 
Margaret R. Winther. 
Charles E. Winther. 
Anna G. Winther. 
7. Grace Winther. 
Mary S. Winther. 
Mrs. Elizabeth Antes Hobart, Renova, 

Clinton Co., Pa. 
Hannah Susanna Hobart, married Samuel 
Barkenbine. She died leaving two 
children. 
Ij 3, 5> i> I- Grandchildren of George Snyder, Mary 
Josephine Snyder, born 1829. 

2. Catherine Helen Snyder. 

3. Ann Alice Sn}-dcr. 

4. Amelia Jenks Snyder. 

5. Simon Snyder. 



I, 


3,4, 


I, 


I, 


2. 

5- 
6. 

7- 


I, 


3,4, 


I, 


2. 




I, 


3,4, 


5, 


2. 




I, 


3,4, 


5, 


I. 





289 

6. Frederick Smith Snyder. 

7. Henry W. Snyder. 

8. Charles A. V. Snyder. 

I, 3, 5, 2, I. Harriet M. Snyder App. 

2. Catherine Antes Snyder Crane. 

4. Henry F. Snyder Crane. 

5. George Snyder Crane. 

6. Ellen L. Snyder Riley. 

7. Antes Snyder. 

8. James Duncan Snyder. 

9. Jesse Duncan Snyder. 

Mrs. Mary B. Snyder, widow of i, 3, 5, 5. 
Antes Snyder, Musselshell, Meagher 
Co., Montana. 
if 3. 5> 5. 3- Francis Snyder. 

4. Frederick Antes Snyder. 

5. Edward Melville Snyder. 

6. John Antes Latrobe Snyder. 

7. Florence Snyder. 

4. William, born November i8th, 1731. Wil- 
liam Antes was Sub-Lieutenant of Philadelphia 
County during the Revolutionary war, Commis- 
sioner of sequestrated estates, etc., and held other 
positions of responsibility dur..ig the war. After 
the war he was Commissioner of Northumberland 
county. In 1S09 he was residing in Genesee 
county, N. Y. 
I, 4, 6, 2, I. Charles Hammond Antes, New York City. 

2. Robert Hayes Antes, Genesee, 111. 

3. Henry T. Antes, Genesee, 111. 
7. Katherinc Marshall Antes 



290 

1,4, 6. 3. I- - William Gibbs Antes, Canandaigua, N. Y. 

I, 4, 6, 6. Abner Barlow Antes. 

1, 4, 6,6, I. Mary Antes, Canandaigua, N. Y. 

2. Sarah Hayes Antes, married Edgar I. 

Warner, Obilene, Kansas. 

3. Catherine Bemis Antes, married Charles 

W. Chase, New York City. 

4. Eliza W. Antes, Canandaigua, N. Y. 

5. Abner Barlow Antes, Waterloo, Iowa. 
I, 4, 6, 6, 3, 2. Bessie Bemis Chase. 

3, George Cotton Chase. 

4. Alice Leighton Chase. 

5, Charlotte Goldsmith Chase. 

6. Charles William Chase. 

1.4.6.7. Lucinda (A.) Reid, Kewanee, 111. 
I, 4, 6, 7, 2. William (A.) Reid. 

3. Elizabeth Eddy Reed. 

4. Frank Hays Reid. 

5. Anna Louisa Reed Little. 
1, 4, 6, 7, 5, I. Fred William Little. 

2. George Reed Little. 
1,4,6, 8. Sarah A. Hayes, Canandaigua, N. Y. 

.1,4, 6, 8, I. Joseph Byron Hayes, M. D., Canandaigua, 
N. Y. 

1.4.6.8, I, I. Edward Graham Hayes, Canandj";," N.Y_ 

2. George Byron, Canandaigua, N. Y. 

3. Chester Colem;m, Canandaigua, N. Y. 

I, 4, 6, 2, I. Charles Hammond Antes, New York City 

j,4, 6, 2, I, I. William Sutherland Antes, New York City. 

2. May Ellis Antes, New York City. 

3. Alice Lee Antes, New York City. 
I, 4, 6, 2, 3. Henry Taylor Antes, Genesee, 111. 



291 

I, 4, 6, 2, 3, I. Helen Jeannette Antes, Genesee, 111. 

2. Katharine Coleman Antes, Genesee, 111, 
1, 4, 6, 2, 4. Robert Hayes Antes (twin with H. T. 

Antes.) 
T, 4, 6, 7, 2, I. Bessie Barlow Reed, Weathersfield, 111. 
2. Florence Bradley Reed, Weathersfield. 
T, 4, 6, 7. 4, 2. Frank M. Reed, Weathersfield, 111. 
William Gardner, New York City. 

5, Elizabeth, born January 29th, 1734. Her 
first husband was George Philip Dotterer of Fred- 
erick. The descendents of this marriage are known 
by the name of Dukehart, Sultzer, Blair, Wichel- 
hausen, McCrea, Branson, and others. Among 
the descendents of these are several engineers. 
Her second husband was Rev. Nicholas Pomp, and 
their son Thomas Pomp was for fifty years pastor 
of the German Reformed Church, in Easton, Pa. 
Rev. Thomas Pomp had ten children, one of whom 
married Rev. Joseph F. Berg, D. D. Another one 
married Rev. Joseph B. Gross. Two are living. 

I> 5> 7. 4- Sophia Pomp, Easton, Pa. 

^> 5» 7> ^- ' Mary Catharine Pomp. 

I> S> 7> 2, 2. His daughter Elizabeth married Samuel 

Kinsey. 
T, 5, 7, 2, I. Thomas P. Kinsey, Reading, Pa. 

I> 5) 7> 2, I, I. Erwin P. Kinsey. 

2. Frank P. Kinsey. 

3. Ida Florence Kinsey. 

4. Walter Kinsey. 

5. Harry P. Kinsey. 



292 



1,5,7,2,1,6. 


Samuel P. Kinsey. 


1,5,7,2, 1.4, I- 


Son. 


2. 


Daughter. 


1,5,7,2,2, I. 


Mary Black Kinsey. 


2. 


James Black Kinsey. 


3- 


Howard P. Kinsey. 


1,5,7.2,3. 


Cornelia S. Stoneback, Easton, Pa. 


1,5,7,2,3,2. 


Henry B. Stoneback. 


3- 


Samuel Kinsey Stoneback. 


4- 


George Pomp Stoneback. 


1,5,7,2.3,3, I- 


Cora Matilda Stoneback. 


2. 


Mary A. Haas. 


1,5,7,2,5- 


Mary C. Green, Philadelphia, Pa. 


1,5,7,2,5,3- 


May Maxwell Green. 


1,5,7,2,5,3, I- 


Margurite Green. 


2 


Willie Green. 


1,5.7,2,5,5- 


Bessie S. Green. 


1,5,7,2,6. 


George W. Kinsey, Lake Clear, Dakota 


1,5,7,2,6, !. 


Daniel D. Kinsey. 


2. 


Edward Ingham Kinsey. 


I, 5, 7, 2. 7- 


Amelia P. Green. 


1,5,7,2,7,3 


Samuel Kinsey Green. 


4- 


Helen Thomas Green. 


1,5,7,2,4- 


Samuel A. Kinsey. 


1,5,7,2,4, I- 


William E. Kinsey, Peoria 111. 


2. 


Warren Kinsey. _^ 


3- 


Nellie Kinsey. 


4- 


Blanche Kinsey. 


5- 


Ada Kinsey. 


6. 


Samuel Kinsey. 


9- 


Sarah E. Roberts, W^ilkesbarre, Pa. 


I, 5, 7, 2. 9, I. 


Walter Owen Roberts. 



293 

I. 5, 7» 2, 10. Emma Wilhelmina Berg, North Branch, 

N. J. 

I, 5, 7, 2, 10, I. Mary O. Berg. ^ 

2. Sue P. Berg. 

3. Cassie Berg. 

4. Lizzie Berg. 

5. Minnie Berg. 

6. Grace Berg. 

7. Joseph F. Berg. 

8. Eva Bercr. 

9. Ruth Berg. '■■^, 
r, 5, 7, 2, 1 1. WilHam Kinsey. 

I, 5, 7, 9. Elenora Pomp Berg. 

ij 5> 7> 9, I- Mary Ellen Berg, Philadelphia, 

2. Anna Francis Berg. 

3. Joseph Frederick Berg. 

4. Amelia Pomp Berg. 

5. Herman Casper Berg. 

6. Elenora Berg. 

7. Sue Blanche Berg. 

8. Ida Thomas Berg, 

9. Kate DcWitt Berg. 

I> 5> 7, 7- Frederick W. H. Pomp. 

i> 5> 7> 7> !• Thomas Herman Pomp. 

2. Anna Mary Pomp. 

3. William Henry Pomp. 

4. Emma Young Pomp. 

5. Julia Pomp. 
I>5>7>i)2. Charles Pomp. 

^> Si7> i> 2> I. Belle Pomp Lawall, Easton, Pa. 

2. Sarah Pomp. 

3. Sue Pomp Maxwell. 



294 

4- Mary K. Pomp. 

5. Emilic M. Pomp. 
^>S>7> i'^> *■ Anna Pomp. 

5. John Henry Antes, born October 5th, 1736. 
Was married twice. In 1775 he removed to North- 
umberland Co., Pa.; was elected Justice of the Peace, 
was an ardent patriot, and built Antes Fort, at the 
junction of Antes creek with the Susquehanna, built 
a flouring mill under the protection of the fort, was 
Colonel of Militia for fiohtino- Indians, served as 
Indian scout, was twice Sheriff, Judge of Quarter 
Sessions, and at times Presiding Judge. 

1,6, I, 2, I, I. Howard R. Antes (Rev.), Newark, 111. 

2. Rebecca Minerva, Antes, Wheaton, 111. 

3. Samuel Franklin Antes. 

4. Mary A. Antes. 

6. Charles Jacob Antes. 

7. Kate E. Antes. 

10. Henry Clayton Antes. 

1,6, I, 2, 2. Jacob Antes, Evansville, Wis. 

I, 6, I, 2, 2, I. Joseph Antes, 

2. Eli Antes. 

3. William Antes. 

4. Robert B. Antes 
1, 6, I, 2, 4. Oscar Antes. 

1, 6, I, 3, 2. David D. Antes, Ccntreville, Mich. 

i^6> r, 3, 2, I. John D. Antes, Kansas City, Kansas. 

T>6> T> 3> 3- Samuel G. Antes, Santi Clara, Cal. 

^> 6, T, 3, 3, I. Ada Antes. 

2. Rulie Antes. 

3. William Antes. 



295 



1,6, 1,3.4, I- 
1,6, 1,3. 5. 
1,6, 1,3,5,1. 
1,6, 1,3,6. 
1,6, 1,3,6, I. 

2. 

1,6,1,3,7, 
8. 

1,6, 1,3,8, I. 

1,6, 1,3, lo. 
II. 

1,6, 1,4, I. 



4- 
8. 

9- 

lO. 

II. 

12. 

13- 
1,6, 1,4, I, I. 

2. 
0- 

4- 

5- 
6. 

8. 

1,6, 1,4,4, I- 



Charles G. Bennet, New York City. 

Mrs. Jane E. Bennet, Three Rivers, Mich, 

Claudia Bennett. 

Priscilla B. Daniels, Emporia, Kan, 

Lemuel Clark. 

Howard Daniels. 

Charles A. Bressett, Three Rivers, Mich. 

William L. M. Antes, Aberdeen, Miss. 

Edwin Henry Antes. 

Susanna M. Metzgar, Centreville, Mich. 

Amelia L. Bressett, Three Rivers, Mich. 

George W. Youngman (Hon.), Williarrss- 

port, Pa. 
Henry Antes Youngman, Grand Ju»c- 

tion, Iowa. 
Caroline McMinn, Philadelphia. 
Amelia Lquisa Sheadle. 
Priscilla Reichenbach. 
Martha Youngman, Williamsport, Pa. 
Elmira L. Jordan. 
Josephine E. Canfield. 
William T. Youngman. 
Alonzo P. Youngman. 
Samuel L. Youngman, Williamsport, Pa. 
Geo. W. Youngman, Jr., Antes Fort, Pa, 
William L. Youngman. 
James M. Youngman, Williamsport, Pa. 
Mary L. Mehaffey. 
Charles W. Youngman (M. Dj. 
Joseph H. McMinn, Williamsport, Pa. 
Charles V. L. McMinn, Newberry, Pa. 
Herman S. W. McMinn, Brooklyn, N. Y. 



296 

4- Edwin McMinn (Rev.), Moorestown, 
N.J. 
Mary A. Grier, Newberry, Pa. 
Caroline Mackey, Philadelphia, Pa. 
Benjamin Franklin McMinn. Phila., Pa. 
EHas Youngman (has three children), 
Joseph Youngman. 

Mary Youngman Austin (has one child). 
Letitia Youngman Mecum. 
Ada S. Youngman, Chicago, 111. 
Mrs. Florence Norris, Baltimore, Md. 
Mrs. Anna E. Archer, Dacotah. 
Mrs. Louisa Sheadle, Rochelle, 111. 
Miss Priscilla T. Sheadle. 
Miss Mary R. Sheadle. 
Mrs. Priscilla Reiderbach. 
Mrs. Elmira Jordan, Necedah, Wis. 
Josephine E. Canfield. 
Stephen W. Youngman. 
Nancy E. Bushnell, Chicago, 111. 
Stewart Youngman, Colorado. 
John Henry Youngman. 
Chas. B. Youngman, has four children. 
Ada S. Youngman, has two children. 
Anna Elmira Archer, has six children. 
Florence Viola Roberts. 
Priscil Viola Sheadle. 
Mar)' Rilla Sheadle. . ^ ' 

I, 6, I, 4, I, I, I. Steele T. Jordan. 

2. Josephene Jordan. 
I, 6, I, 4, I, 2, I. Ella Antes Canfield. 

3. Clarence Canfield. 











5- 










6. 










7- 


h 


,6, 


h 


,4-3> 


I. 

2. 

3- 
8. 


'■I 


.6, 


■*•; 


.4,5, 


7- 


^) 


,6, 




,4,7, 


3- 
4- 


^ 1 


.6, 


^ 1 


,4,8. 




^ ! 


.6, 


'■ i 


,4.8, 


I. 

2. 


^ 1 


,6, 




,4,9- 




^) 


6, 


^ i 


,4. I, 


2. 


*) 


,6, 


^1 


,4,1, 


3- 


*J 


,6, 


■*■) 


,4,5, 


I. 

3- 

4- 
5- 
6. 

7- 


I, 


6, 


I, 


4,7, 


I. 
2. 


T, 


6, 


I, 


4.8, 


I. 

2. 



297 

4- Mattie Canfield. 

5. Harry Canfield. 

6. Baley Canfield. 

T, 6, 1,4, I, I, I. Hattie Youngman. ■"■"--- 

2. Anna Youngman. 
1,6, 1,4, I, 2, I. William Sterling Youngman. 

2. Mary Youngman. 

3. Julia Ross Youngman. 
I, 6, I, 4, I, 3, I . May Youngman. 

2. Reynolds Youngman. 

3. Gardner Youngman. 

4. Ralph Youngman. 

5. Phoebe Youngman. 
1,6, 1,4, 1,4, I. Walter Youngman. 

2. Emily Youngman. 
1,6, 1,4, I, 5, I. Florence Youngman. 
I, 6, I, 4, 4, I, 3. Caroline McMinn. 

4. David Ellis McMinn. 
,5. Robert McMinn. 
1,6, I, 4, 4, 2, 2. Charles Clayton McMinn. 

3. Herman McMinn. 

1,6, I, 4, 4. 4, 2. George Rupert McMinn. 
I, 6, I, 4, 4, 5, I. Emily Louisa Grier. 
1,6, I, 4, 4, 6, I. Stanley Mackey. 

George Ruhl, Rockford, 111. 

David Ruhl. 

Mrs. Anna E. Foster, Elmira, N. Y. 

Henry Antes McMicken, Aberdeen Wis. 

Mrs. Irene J. Hamilton, Newark, N. J. 

Mrs. Margaret Huber, WilHamsport Pa. 

Antes Aughenbaugh, Antes Fort, Pa. 

Henrietta A. Bardo, Jersey Shore, Pa. 



1,6, 


1,5, 


I. 

2 


1,6, 


1,9. 


I. 

0- 

4- 

5- 


1,6. 


1,8, 


I. 



29S 

3- Priscilla Aughenbach Barncr, Antes 

Fort, Pa. 
4. George A. Aughcnbaugh, Antes Fort, 

Penna. 
6. Daniel L. Aughenbaugh, Jersey Shore, 

Penna. 
1,6, I, 8, I, I. Francis C. Marcus, Antes Fort, Pa. 
I, 6, I, 8, 2, I. Jacob Bardo, Jersey Shore, Pa. 
I. 6, 3, I, 3. Philip Antes, Nisbet, Lycoming Co. Pa. 

^) ^) 3> I. 3. -• Frederick T. Antes. 

4. Mrs. Mary K. Schaub. 

6. Horace P. Antes. 

7. Ira C. Antes. 

1,6, 3, 1,4, 3. Wm. C. Hollahan. Renova, Clinton 'Jo., 
Penna. 

4. riios. B. Hollahan, Lancaster, Lancas- 

ter Co., Penna. 

5. Mrs. Ettie McCormick. Lock Haven, 

Clinton Co., Penna. 

6. Miss Cora Hollahan. 
i.<5, 3, I, 5, I. Mrs. Elmira Campbell. 

2. Mrs. Dorcia Zimmerman. 

3. JMrs. Arabella Zimmerman. 

4. ISlrs. Henrietta Thomas. 
I, 6, 3, I, 7. Wm. W. Antes. 

1,6, 3, I, 7, 2. Mrs. Sarah Probst, Farrandsvillc, Clin- 
ton Co., Penna. 

3. Miss Mary Antes. 

4. Willip.m Antes. 

5 . Andrew Antes. 

1,6,3,1,9. Mrs. Jane (Antes) Holter, Milesburg, 

Center Co., Penna. 



299 

^)^) 3> ^)9> ^- Joseph Holter. 

2. Mrs. Constance, Phillipsburg, Center 

Co., Penna. 

3. George Plolter, Milesburg, Center Co., 

Penna. 

4. Susan Holter, Milesburg, Center Co., 

Penna. 

5. Mrs. Belle Van Scoy, Tyrone, Blair 

Co., Penna. 

6. Mrs. Jennie Curtin, Roland, Center Co., 

Penna. 

7. Mrs. Thanzene Walker, Phillipsburg, 

Center Co., Penna. 
I, 6, 3, T, 10, I. Mrs. Martha J. Williams, Lock Haven, 

Clinton Co., Pa. 
William Antes, Clearfield, Pa. 
Mrs. Maria Stone. 
James Antes. 
Mrs. Elizabeth Fulton. 
Mrs. Susan Irvin, Clearfield, Clearfield 

Co., Penna. 
Mary Elizabeth Antes, Harrisburg, Pa. 1^ 
John F. Antes. 
Henry S. Antes. 
J. Emory Antes. 
Gideon Goodfellow, Clearfield, Clearfield 

Co., Penna. 
Charles Rich, Lewistown, Mififlin Co., Pa. 
John (Patton) Irwin, Curwinsville. 
Mrs. Nancy (Patton) Beck, Pittsburg, Pa. 
Mrs. Maria (Patton) Hippie. 
Eliz;ibeth Patton, Burnside township. 



I, 


.6, 


0) 


• 2, 


, I. 


I; 


.6, 


3, 


2 


2. 

3- 

4- 
5- 


I, 


,6, 


-1 


1 
0> 


I. 

4- 
5- 
6. 


I, 


6, 


0) 


4- 




I, 


6, 


3> 


6, 


I. 

2. 
4- 
5- 



J 00 

6. John Patton, Curwinsville. 

8. Henry Patton. 

1,6,3,8. Philip Antes. 

1.6, 3, 8, I. L'lmsden Antes, Riverton. 

2. Alexander Antes. 

3. Mrs. Susan Antes Mitchell. Clearfield 

Co., Pa. 
5. Mrs. P^lizabcth Antes, Riverton or Riv- 

erside, Clearfield Co., Pa. 
I, 6, 3, I, I, I. Antes Caiifield, Necedah, Wis. 

3. Thos. M. G. Canfield, husband of i, r,- 

6, 1,4, 13, Josephine Youngman. 

4. Ira Canfield, Renova, Clinton Co., Vz. 

5. Mrs. Harriet Jane (Canfield) Christy. 

6. Mrs. Susan (Canfield) Straw, Texas. 

8. Mrs. Phcebe C. Canfield. Renova, Clin- 
ton Co., Pa. 
Horatio C. Crane, Lewistown, Idaho. 
Michael Albert Crane, Virginia City, 
Nevada. 
1,6,4, I, r. Henry Barnhart, Lockport, 111. 

2. John Barnhart, Center Co., Pa. 

3. Philip I^arnhart, Bellefonte. 

4. Smith Barnhart (Lawyer) Lockport, 111. 

5. Mrs. Sarah Barnhart, Bellefonte, Center 

Co., Penna. 

6. Miss Elizabeth Barnhart. 

I, 6, 4. 2, I. Philip W. Barnhart, Roland, Center Co. 

2. Henry L. Barnhart. 

3. Mrs. Julia Ann Curtin.her husband, 

John C, halt brother to ex-Gov. 
Curtin. 



301 

4- Mrs. Sarah Sellers, Bellefonte, Pa. 

6. Mrs. Nancy Kimport, Cherry Tree, 

Clearfield Co., Pa. 

7. Mrs. Mary Davis, Hollidaysburg, Blair 

Co.. Penna. 

8. Mrs. Catharine Kimport. 

1,6,4, 3. l^J"- John M. Barnhart, Vineland, Cum- 

berland Co., N. J. 
2. Hannah, widow of Rev. Thomas Co- 

burg, Montgomery Co., Iowa. 
4. Philip Barnhart, West Union, Fayette 

Co., Iowa. 

Mrs. Elizabeth Barnhart, Barthrust. 

John Barnhart. 

Mary Barnhart, married James McChee. 

Mrs. Ann Barnhart Ross, wife of John 
Ross, Curwinsville, Clearfield Co. Pa. 

Mrs. Sophia Barnhart Johnson, one son, 
George Johnson,, lives at Mt. Union 
Center Co., Pa. 

Sarah Barnhart, twice married. 

Christiana Barnhart Dopp. Mt. Eagle. 

Catharine Barnhart Neff, Burnside Twp. 
Clearfield Co. 

Mrs. Isabella Barnhart Oris, wife of 
Henry Oris, Milesburg, Centre^Co., Pa. 

5. Julia Barnhart Harshburger, P. O. Zion, 

Centre Co., Pa. 

6. Joseph Barnhart, Renova, Clinton Co. 

7. Mrs. Laura Barnhart Weaver, Bellefonte 

Centre Co., Pa. 
1,6,4, 3> I- John M. Barnhart. 



I, 


.6, 


4,4- 
5- 
6. 

7- 
8. 

9- 
10. 
II. 


I, 


,6, 


4, 2, I, I, 



302 



1,6,4. 



I. I. 



5- 

6. 

1.6,4,2, I, 3. 



4- 

8. 

9- 
10. 

I, 6, 4. 2, 2, I. 



1,6,4,2,3, I. 
2. 

3- 
4- 

I, 6. 7, 1,2. 
1,6, I, 2, 2. 

I, 6, 12, 2, I. 



(Sister-in-law Hannah Coburg, Mont- 
gomery Co., Iowa.) 
(Philip Barnhart, We.st Union, Fayette 
Co., I(3wa.) 

C. K. l^arnhart, l^olton'.s Block, Tren- 
ton, N.J. 

F. H. Barnhart, Aashington, D. C. 

Elizabeth Ann Dougherty, Seymour, 
Webster Co., Mo. 

MoUie B. Kennedy, 820 Dekalb Ave.. 
Brooklyn. 

Drusilla B. Mes.sick, Vineland, N. J. 

Martin Ellsworth. 

Mrs. Lucy Barnhart, Roland Center 
Co., Pa. 

Amanda Barnhart. 

Henry Barnhart. 

Letitia Barnhart. 

James Barnhart. 

Alphonso Barnhart. 

John Barnhart. 

William liarnhart. 

James B. Curtin, Roland Center Co., Pa. 

Henry Curtin. 

John Curtin, Philadelphia, Pa. 

Mrs. Marjory Bell Curtin, Bellefonte, Ba. 

Mrs. Sarah (Curtin) Latimer. 

Abel Dougherty. 

Henry S. Ant^s, Jersey Shore, Ly- 
coming Co., Pa. 

Jame-s Antes, Elmira, N. Y. 

Miss Catherine A. Antes, Jersey Shore, 
Lycoming Co., Pa. 



o>-'j 



3. Mrs. Mary F. Antes Caswell, Antes, 
Fort, Lycoming Co., Pa. 

3,6,12,3. Mrs. Catharine (Antes) Messimer, Jer- 

sey Shore, Lycoming Co., Pa. 

1,6, 12, 3, I. Miss Emma Messimer, Jersey Shore. 

2. Miss Sarah E. Messimer. 

3. Joseph W. Messimer. 

1.6. 12,4. Mrs. Hannah (Antes) Leathers, wife of 

Jacob L., Roland Center Co., Pa. 

1,6, 12, 6. Joseph Antes (deceased), — wife (livdng), 

Mrs. Martha K. Antes, Jersey Shore. 

7. Jacob, born September 19th, 1738, died June 
6th, 1739. 

8. John, born IVIarch 13th, 1740. He became 
a missionary in Africa, a great traveler and an 
author. His work on Egypt, a quarto, attracted 
great attention at the time it was published. He also 
wrote several other works. He had no children. 

9. Mary Magdalene, born October 2Sth, 1742. 
She went to Germany, was there married to Ebbing, 
died at Herrnhut, April 17th, 181 1 and was buried 
in the Moravian Gottes Acker. 

10. Joseph, born January 8th, 1745, died August 
1746. 

11. Benigna, born September i6th, 1748, died 
and was buried at Bethlehem in December, 1760. 

Henry S. Doterer says in closing an account of 
Henry Antes, before the Deutscher Pionier Verein, 
April 28th, 1882, in the German Society Hall of 
Philadelphia: "The history of the Antes family 



304 

shows that its membership is composed of an un- 
usual large proportion of men of usefulness, ability 
and prominence. Henry Antes, the founder of the 
American branch, was a type of that hardy German 
element which came to Pennsylvania, settled on its 
inland frontiers, and stood a wall of protection 
between the treacherous savages and the favored 
dwellers in the towns. These people brought with 
them willing hands, untiring energy, and a stead- 
fast faith in God. These characteristics have been 
transmitted through their posterity down to our 
times ; and though, by reason of the changes 
wrought by time in their language, manners and 
names, we often fail to trace clearly the lineage of 
their succession, yet are the high principles of the 
forefathers still active, as they have been from the 
beginning, in moulding the morals and strength- 
ening the bulwarks of the State. The Antes name 
we find, in the successive generations, ever in the 
van of enterprise. They are a race of builders ; 
mechanics is their birthright. As we look upon 
the long line of honorable names we find many of 
them to excel as mechanics, engineers, architects, 
inventors and manufacturers. And when they turn 
from these pursuits to bear arms, to engage in the 
legal profession, or to assume the sacred office, 
the talent as workers in wood and metals, as has 
been shown, is still conspicuously present. Wlicn 



305 

we contemplate the great numbers of the descen- 
dants of the pious layman of Frederick Township, 
scattered broadcast over the orlobe, the thouohts 
turn instinctively to the promise made to the 
patriarch of old: 'I will make thee exc-y^ding-ly 
fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kin^s 
shall come out of thee.' " 



SOCIAL! HISTORICAL STORIES 



REV. EDWIN MCMINN. 



The Breaker Boy of Lansford,. 

A Story of the Coal Mines. 

r6mo, pp. 588. Price, $1.25. 
" Life in tlie mining regions is but little understood by those living in 
our large cities. The life is in general a rough one, but we have great 
respect for those stalwart sons of toil. The present volume gives an in^iglit 
into their habits of life, their struggles, temptations, triumphs, and many 
interesting ways. We see, too, the softening and elevating power of the 
gospel, and that beneath a grimy exterior live noble souls who honor the 
Christian name and calling. There is an interesting sketch of the " Mollie 
Maguires." A large portion of the story is located at the Barclay Mines 
near the Wyoming Valley in this State, and at the Empire Mine near 
Wilkes Rarre ; while we find the whole mining region at the call and 
command of the author. Only a person thoroughly conversant \\ilh the 
topography of Pennsylvania, and with the life described could write such a 
book. We can highly commend it for its knowledge of the subject, its 
graphic descriptions, its intensely religious tone, and its rare adaption of the 
subject to a high purpose. It is sure to prove a most successful book for 
libraries in our Bible-schools, where wide-awake, yet thoroughly good 
books are in demand." — National Jiaptist. Phila. 
Eaglcsraox'B Trio. 

A Temperance Story. 
i6mo. pp. 255. Price, j^i.oo. 

"The work depicts the career of three young men, who were thrown 
together when just approaching manhood. They were ditferent in ^;>lll^: 
important respects, but it was not easy to predict what their future career 
would be. The author traces thcin as they went along their ]5allnvay, in 
difiercnt scenes, meeting various influericos, and notes iheir bearing in ilicni. 



SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL STORIES. 

As usual the temptations of the vender of ardent spirits had to be met ; and 
also in the case of one, the evil influences of low politicians tliat are 
found in many localities working for evil. The tenors of their lives are 
well set forth and may readily be learned." — Texas Baptist.^ 
Brave Hearts Win. 

The Story of a Boot-Black. 
i2mo. pp. 255. Price $1.00. 
" Brave Hearts Win is a book that boys will prize. Ft is the story of a 
lad stolen in his infancy from a Christian home of woakli and luxury, and 
brought up in neglect and poverty, but who won his way to education and 
position by ' clear grit' and faith in Christ. In his young manhood he dis- 
covers the secret of his birth and is restored to parents and home." — Bap- 
tist Messenger. 

" There is also something of science presented in a pleasing way, &c. — 
Arkansas Evangel. 

Judith and Glaucia. 

A Story of the First Century. 

i6mo. pp. 407. Price, ^1.50. 
" There are thirty-seven chapters in this interesting story and eight full 
page pictures. Mr. McMinn has made much research as to the state of 
society in the time in which this scene is laid. The story begins before 
the martyrdom of Stephen, and carries us from Jeru-;alem to Antioch, 
Atliens, Rome and Pella beyond the Jordon. It ends at the time of the 
fultilment of prophecy in the memorable destruction of Jerusalem by the 
Roman forces under Titus. One of the heroines, Judith, was a Jewish 
maiden from Jerusalem and Glaucia was the daughter of a wealthy Athenian. 
Becoming acquainted they reach Antioch in the days when Paul was visiting 
it and preaching there. They were there brought to receive the gospel, 
and the course of their lives is traced until the narrative closes with tlic 
fall of Jerusalem." — Christian Secretary, Neiu Haven. Conn. 
Ben Ammi; The Armorer's Son. 

A Story of the times of Isaiah. 

121110. pp 315. Price, $1.25 
"This work may be classed with 'The Prince of the House of David.' 
'The Throne of David,' &c., as a historical novel. It rises above those 
mentioned, pei'haps, in historical value. It compasses a particular and a 
very interesting period in Israel's career, and depicts its character and 
events elaborately and with the constant use of the Bible narrative. We 
think it is well calculated not merely to entertain, luit to enlist the reader 
in Old Testament biography and ethics. — Journal Mcssunjcr, Cum., 0. 



SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL STORIES. 

The Bushkill Social. 

The Boyhood of Fifty Boys Who became Celebrated Men. 

i2mo. pp.320. Price, gi.oo. 
" This is an admirable work for young folks, especially boys. It gives 
interesting sketches of noted persons. There is a thread of a story on 
which to string these bits of biography. There are poets, preachers, 
authors, presidents, sailors, explorers, &c. Evidently the Bushkill Social 
was an admirable society and we wjsh many such might be formed all 
over the country. The author is well known as a writer for young folks 
and we feel sure this will prove a popular work. — Baltimore Baptist. 

All of the above published and for sale by the 
American Baptist Publication Society, 
1420 Chestnut St, Phila. 

256 Washington St., Boiiton. 151 Wabash Ave., Chicago. 

9 Murray St., New York. 1109 Olive St., St. Louis. 

Other Publication.s by the Same Author. 
Rambles in Mineral Fields. 

These are rambles in the mineral localities in Chester, Delaware and Lancasttr 
counties, Pennsylvania, with full description of the scenery and minerals. Published 
in West Chester, Pa., 1878. 

The Lycoming Rangers. 

A story of a boys' retreat among the rocks of Lycoming Creek, in Pennsylvania, 
with discussions on educational and social questions. Published in Mahanoy City, iSSi. 

Pocket Manuel No. 3. 

A compend of the choicest gleaninjjs lor the ^radical and the curious Published 
in Philadelphia in 1884. 



^«4.^ 



